DHAKA: Bangladesh celebrated the country’s 55th Independence Day on Wednesday with President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus paying tribute to martyrs of the Liberation War at the National Memorial in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka.

The day’s celebrations began with a 31-gun salute at dawn by a smartly turned-out contingent drawn from the Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force while the bugles played the last post.

Wearing the red and green of the Bangladeshi flag, people of all ages and all walks of life also thronged the national memorial to pay respect to war heroes.

Also, major roads and intersections in Dhaka and other cities were decorated with national flags and banners. The president and the chief adviser delivered special messages to the nation to mark the occasion. On March 26 every year, Bangladesh commemorates the country’s declaration of independence in 1971.-Xinhua