Bangladesh army enforces curfew amid deadly student-led protests

Bangladeshi soldiers patrolled Dhaka's deserted streets on July 20 and set up roadblocks during a curfew meant to quell deadly student-led protests against government job quotas that killed more than 110 people this week.

Internet and text message services have been suspended since July 18, as police cracked down on protests that have continued despite a ban on public gatherings. Overseas phone calls mostly failed to connect, while websites of Bangladesh-based media organisations were not updated.

"To take a country of nearly 170 million people off the internet is a drastic step, one we haven't seen the likes of since the Egyptian revolution of 2011," said Dr John Heidemann, chief scientist of the networking and cyber-security division at the University of Southern California Viterbi's Information Sciences Institute.

The Dhaka Medical College Hospital received 27 bodies on July 19 between 5pm and 7pm.

For five days, police have fired tear gas and hurled sound grenades as demonstrators clashed with security personnel.