Counting began in Bangladesh’s pivotal national election on Thursday after tens of millions of people voted for a new government following the 2024 ouster of long‑time premier Sheikh Hasina in a tumultuous Gen Z‑driven uprising.

Although final figures were not immediately available, Akhtar Ahmed, senior secretary of the Election Commission, told reporters that nearly half the electorate had voted at 36,031 of the 42,651 polling centres by 2 p.m. (0800 GMT), with two-and-a-half hours to go, Reuters reported.

That is more than the entire 42% turnout at the last election in 2024.

Analysts say a decisive result is crucial for steady governance in the nation of 175 million, as the deadly anti-Hasina protests triggered months of unrest and disrupted key industries, including the huge garments sector, the world’s second-largest exporter.

It is the world’s first election after an uprising led by under-30s, or Gen Z, to be followed by Nepal next month.

Counting began at 4:30 p.m. (1030 GMT) at most booths, immediately after polls closed with early trends expected around midnight and results likely to be clear by Friday morning, Election Commission officials said.

The contest pits two coalitions led by former allies, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist Jamaat‑e‑Islami, with opinion polls giving an edge to the BNP.

Both prime ministerial candidates – the BNP’s Tarique Rahman and Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said they were confident of winning. The two men are not related.

“I am confident of winning the election. There is enthusiasm among the people about the vote,” Tarique Rahman told reporters, while Jamaat’s Shafiqur Rahman called the election a “turning point” for Bangladesh and said the people were eager for change.

Hasina’s Awami League is banned, and she remains in self‑imposed exile in long-term ally India, opening the window for China to expand its influence in Bangladesh as Dhaka’s ties with New Delhi deteriorate.

Elections were held during Hasina’s tenure but they were marred by opposition boycotts and intimidation, critics have said.

Alongside the election, a referendum was held on a set of constitutional reforms, including establishing a neutral interim government for election periods, restructuring parliament into a bicameral legislature, increasing women’s representation, strengthening judicial independence and imposing a two-term limit on the prime minister.

More than 2,000 candidates, including many independents, are vying for 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad, or House of the Nation.

Voting in one constituency has been postponed due to the death of a candidate. At least 50 parties are contesting in total, a national record.

LONG LINES OF VOTERS, HEAVY SECURITY

There were no reports of major violence, but a BNP leader died in a scuffle outside a polling booth in the coastal town of Khulna and two paramilitary personnel and a 13-year old girl were injured when a home-made bomb exploded outside a polling booth in Hasina’s stronghold of Gopalganj.

Around 958,000 personnel from the police, army and paramiltary forces were deployed throughout the country on election day, the Election Commission said. Police and army personnel were stationed outside most polling booths.

“I am feeling excited because we are voting in a free manner after 17 years,” Mohammed Jobair Hossain, 39, said as he waited in line. “Our votes will matter and have meaning.”

Hossain’s sentiment was echoed by many voters, who told Reuters that the atmosphere felt more free and festive than earlier elections.

Kamal Chowdhury, 31, who works as a driver for a company in Dhaka and travelled to his hometown in the eastern district of Brahmanbaria to cast his vote, said: “It feels festive here.

“People are so enthusiastic to cast their vote — it’s almost like Eid,” he added, referring to Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim religious festival.

Outside a polling booth in Dhaka where BNP chief Tarique Rahman and head of the interim government Muhammad Yunus voted, policemen were on horses with saddle blankets proclaiming: “Police are here, vote without fear”.

“From today, we have the opportunity to build a new Bangladesh with every step we take. This is a festival, a day of joy, a day of liberation, the end of our nightmare. I congratulate you all,” Yunus, who took over as interim head after Hasina, said after voting.

“The crucial test for Bangladesh now will be to ensure the election is conducted fairly and impartially, and for all parties to then accept the result,” said Thomas Kean, a senior consultant with the International Crisis Group. “If that happens, it will be the strongest evidence yet that Bangladesh has indeed embarked on a period of democratic renewal.”

U.S. forces in Qatar’s al-Udeid, the biggest U.S. base in the Middle East, put missiles into truck launchers as tensions with Iran ratcheted up since January, analysis of satellite images showed, meaning they could be moved more quickly, Reuters reported.

The decision to keep the Patriot missiles in mobile trucks rather than semi-static launcher stations — meaning they could rapidly deploy to strike or be moved defensively in case of an Iranian attack — shows how risks heightened as frictions grew.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, its backing for allied groups in the Middle East and crushing of internal dissent, though talks to avert a war continue.

There are also U.S. bases in Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkey and on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have warned that in case of strikes on Iranian territory, they could retaliate against any U.S. base.

A comparison of satellite photographs in early February with those taken in January shows a recent build-up of aircraft and other military equipment across the region, said William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground.

At al-Udeid, the Patriot missiles were visible parked mounted into M983 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) at the start of February, Goodhind said.

“The decision to do so gives the Patriots much greater mobility, meaning they can be moved to an alternative site or repositioned with greater speed,” he said.

It was not clear on Tuesday whether the missiles were still in the HEMTTs.

A spokesperson for the Pentagon was not immediately available for comment.

Iran says it has replenished its missile stocks after two weeks of conflict last summer when Israel bombed its nuclear facilities and some other military targets, a campaign that the United States joined late on, read the report.

Iran has underground missile complexes near Tehran, as well as at Kermanshah, Semnan and near the Gulf coast.

The Iranian naval drone carrier IRIS Shahid Bagheri was visible in satellite photographs on January 27 at sea some 5 km from Bandar Abbas. It was also visible near Bandar Abbas on February 10.

Here are changes at U.S. Middle East bases observed in satellite pictures:

AL-UDEID, QATAR:

Images from February 1 showed an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft, three C-130 Hercules aircraft, 18 KC 135 Stratotankers and seven C-17s. On January 17 there had been 14 Stratotankers and two C-17s.

Up to 10 MIM-104 Patriot air defence systems were parked in HEMTTs.

MUWAFFAQ, JORDAN:

Images from February 2 of one location in Muwaffaq showed 17 F15-E strike aircraft, 8 A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, four C-130s and four unidentified helicopters. Images from January 16 were low resolution and it was not possible to identify all aircraft there.

February 2 images of a second location in Muwaffaq showed a C-17 and a C-130, as well as four EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. Pictures of that location on January 25 had not shown any aircraft.

OTHER BASES:

At Prince Sultan base in Saudi Arabia, images on February 2 showed a C-5 Galaxy and a C-17 aircraft. Images on December 6 showed five aircraft that appeared to be C-130s.

Satellite images from February 6 showed seven more aircraft than had been observed on January 31 at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

Images taken on January 25 and February 10 showed an increase in aircraft at Dukhan base in Oman.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates led regional condemnation on Monday of Israel’s decision to ease settlement expansion and broaden its authority across the occupied West Bank, a move critics say amounts to de facto annexation.

Israel’s security cabinet approved measures on Sunday that will make it easier for Jewish settlers to purchase land in the West Bank and grant Israeli authorities greater powers in areas nominally under Palestinian control, Reuters reported citing two senior Israeli ministers.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultranationalist figure in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, said the decisions would “continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state.”

In a joint statement, foreign ministers from several Middle Eastern and Muslim-majority countries — including Egypt and Turkey — denounced the measures as illegal under international law and warned they would undermine prospects for a two-state solution and regional stability.

Jordan, Egypt, the UAE and Turkey all maintain diplomatic ties with Israel, while Saudi Arabia has said it will not normalise relations without the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Most countries view the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, as the core of a future Palestinian state.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and Smotrich said the cabinet had repealed a pre-1967 Jordanian-era law that kept land registries confidential and scrapped a permit requirement for land purchases, steps they said would simplify transactions for Jewish buyers.

Settlement watchdog Peace Now said the move violated international law and marked a significant step toward annexation. “This treats the West Bank as normal Israeli territory rather than occupied land,” said Hagit Ofran of the group.

The cabinet also expanded Israeli enforcement powers over water use, archaeological sites and environmental issues into Areas A and B of the West Bank — zones that, under the 1993 Oslo accords, are under Palestinian or joint control. Peace Now said the changes could pave the way for wider demolitions of Palestinian property and further restrictions on Palestinian development.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed “grave concern,” warning the measures were eroding the viability of a two-state solution, his spokesperson said.

In Hebron, Palestinians said the decisions would accelerate settlement growth and home demolitions. “It becomes easier to confiscate land, expand settlements and demolish Palestinian homes,” said Issa Amr of the group Youth Against Settlements.