Dhaka grieves for the slain

Keeping check: Bangladeshi policemen guarding a check point where floral arrangements were left by well-wishers on a road block leading to an upscale cafe that was the site of a bloody siege in Dhaka. — AFP

DHAKA: Bangladesh began observing two days of national mourning after 20 hostages were slaughtered at a restaurant packed with foreigners in a terrifying escalation of a campaign of attacks by Islamist extremists.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decreed the mourning period yesterday as she vowed to drag Bangladesh back from the brink, warning of a concerted bid to turn one of the world’s most populous nations into a failed state.