Dhaka - Rescue workers Tuesday recovered 21 bodies from river Meghna in southern Bangladesh after a boat with 50 passengers on board capsized after a collision with a second vessel, police said.

At least 25 people, mostly day labourers, went missing after the accident, which occurred on Monday. Others managed to swim ashore after the small cargo boat overturned in the middle of the river after colliding with another vessel.

Dhaka - Bangladesh was to send a consignment of medicine as humanitarian aid to wounded Palestinians in Gaza, which has been devastated by Israeli air and infantry attacks for the last three weeks, officials said Tuesday.

The aid will soon be dispatched to the Gaza Strip, where over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and several thousands others, including women and children, were injured by indiscriminate shelling by the Israeli forces, a foreign ministry statement said.

Dhaka - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed has ordered new investigations into past terrorist attacks to expose the national and international links, media reports said Tuesday.

The new premier called for an anti-terrorism task force in South Asia and asked her deputies to seek regional and international cooperation.

"It's not possible to curb terrorism alone. United efforts are needed to tackle the problem," Hasina was quoted to have said by her Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad.

Dhaka  - Troops fanned out across Bangladesh Monday to assist regular security forces in maintaining order during the country's local elections Thursday, officials said.

"As many as 38,000 troops will be deployed across the country to aid the regular police force in maintaining order," a Home Ministry official said.

They will be stationed in remote areas to support nearly 500,000 other security personnel guarding more than 30,000 polling stations across the country in an effort to prevent violence on voting day.

Dhaka - Troops fanned out across Bangladesh Monday to assist regular security forces to maintain order during the country's local elections Wednesday, officials said.

"As many as 38,000 troops will be deployed across the country to aid the regular police force in maintaining order," a Home Ministry official said.

They will be stationed up to the remote areas as a striking force beside nearly 500,000 other security personnel to guard over 30,000 polling stations across the country to prevent violence on voting day.

Dhaka  - The first visit by an Indian minister to Bangladesh since the end of a military-backed government is scheduled for February, Bangladeshi officials announced Sunday.

Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to visit Bangladesh in early February to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues, including the formation of a proposed South Asian task force against terrorism, officials said.

The task force was proposed by the new Bangladeshi government, led by Sheikh Hasina's Awami League, which took power January 6 following a landslide December victory over the military-backed government of Fakhruddin Ahmed.