With Hasina gone, Bangladesh peers into the unknown. Here’s what we know

The spectacular downfall of Sheikh Hasina after 15 years helming Bangladesh followed weeks of student protests which saw hundreds killed and chaos rip across the country.

What started as a call for an end to a job quota system snowballed into a mass movement driven by young men and women demanding the 76-year-old leave office.

Then on Monday afternoon, the once unthinkable happened, as one of Asia’s longest-ruling leaders fled by helicopter, her abrupt exit stunning her supporters and critics alike.

Euphoric protesters ransacked her residence and parliament building. But overnight jubilation spiralled into retribution, with reports of widespread looting and more deadly mob violence, some of it targeted at Hasina’s Awami League supporters.

A day after the end of Hasina’s chokehold over Bangladesh, hard questions are now being asked over who will lead the interim government the army has said it wants to see established. Additionally, there is anxiety over whether unrest that is still rattling across a country suddenly freed from its once unassailable ruler can be swiftly and peacefully quelled.

Here is an explainer of what may come next:

Uncertain days lie ahead for Bangladesh.

Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman assumed control on Monday afternoon, vowing to swiftly help install an interim government. He called on the student-led protesters to go home, promising justice for the bloodshed over the recent weeks of political violence. Overnight, President Mohammed Shahabuddin promised elections would be held as soon as possible and ordered the release of jailed protesters as well as ex-prime minister, opposition figurehead and Hasina’s nemesis: Khaleda Zia.

Talks were due on Tuesday between the army chief and the students over the