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DHAKA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Political rivals in Bangladesh hurled home-made bombs during clashes near the capital Dhaka on Wednesday, killing at least two people and wounding 20, police said.

Five weeks after going to the polls to end two years of rule by an army-backed interim government, there have been a number of politically charged incidents across the country.

On Tuesday, Home Minister Shahera Khatun ordered police to take immediate steps to stop the "gradual deterioration" of law and order.

The latest clash erupted between activists of the ruling Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Munshiganj, 40 km (25 miles) south of the capital Dhaka.

"Both the groups hurled home-made bombs during the clash and the victims died of splinter injuries," Police Inspector K.M. Abdullah told Reuters.

He said one of the victims was a BNP activist and the other was a member of the public.

Hundreds of BNP supporters later marched through Dhaka streets in protest against the violence, the first major anti-government protest since the election.

BNP officials urged the government to stop persecuting the opposition and demanded special security protection for their leader, former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia.

A grand alliance led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League won 262 of parliament's 300 seats in the Dec. 29 vote, against just 33 by a BNP-led alliance.

Before the interim administration took over in 2007, the two political parties frequently took to the streets in violent protests and strikes.

"The government has already launched a drive to tackle political violence, extremism and general crime across the country," Tanzim Ahmed Sohel Taj, state minister for home affairs, told reporters. (Reporting by Nizam Ahmed; Editing by Paul Tait)

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