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.

The decision to deploy the troops followed sporadic violence after the December general elections, which were generally peaceful and credible. Those elections restored democratic rule in Bangladesh and ended the two-year rule of the military-backed government of Fakhruddin Ahmed.

Election authorities feared a further slide in law and order during the voting in the sub-district councils, the most important tier of the local government. Grass roots leaders from the two major political camps - the ruling Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party - face off in the crucial ballot.

Bangladesh's Election Commission slapped a ban on electioneering from midnight Monday (1800 GMT).

"The restrictions will continue to remain in force for 64 hours after the start of voting," a statement issued by the election commission said

It also imposed restrictions on vehicular traffic in all the electoral districts from Wednesday midnight through midnight Thursday. Major highways will be exempted from the ban.

The transport ban will not apply to local and foreign election observers carrying legal identity cards, local and foreign journalists, officials and employees appointed for elections.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun pledged violence-free elections and warned of tough action against any attempt to spoil the election atmosphere.

"We will not allow anyone to vitiate the atmosphere," she told a law and order review meeting ahead of the polls.

Over 81 million voters are eligible to elect a chairman and two vice chairmen, one of whom must be a woman, at each of the 480 councils for a five-year term. dpa