Plumes of dark smoke towered above soldiers enforcing a curfew on the quiet streets of Kathmandu on Wednesday morning as rumors swirled about a possible meeting between the leaderless Gen Z movement, the army and the president.

An uneasy calm, after two nights of chaos that saw tens of thousands of people pour out into the streets to vent their fury, setting fire to parliament and the Supreme Court – key symbols of state – and clashing with the government forces sent to keep them under control.

The unrest started in early September, when a group of young Nepalis, fed up with seeing politicians’ children posting about their designer handbags and luxury travel while most people struggle to make ends meet, organised a peaceful protest.

Anger had been brewing for years about the country’s worsening youth unemployment crisis and lack of economic opportunities, exacerbated by what many viewed as a growing disparity between the country’s elite and regular people.

Word quickly spread in the Himalayan country of 30 million.

Then, a government ban last week on more than two dozen social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp added fuel to the fire.

“The buildup of the frustration was what led to this movement,” Sareesha Shrestha, who attended the protests told CNN, describing the social media ban as the “last straw.”

The unemployment rate for youth aged 15-24 in Nepal was 20.8 per cent in 2024, according to the World Bank, forcing many young people to move abroad to find work. More than a third (33.1 per cent) of Nepal’s GDP came from personal remittances, according to the World Bank, a number that has steadily risen over the past three decades.

“Social media is the only platform where we can talk and share and follow the global media,” said Pramin, a filmmaker in Nepal who attended the protests.

“Most of our friends, our families, our brothers, are outside the country so that was the medium of communication.”

On Monday morning, thousands of young people, including many dressed in school uniforms, gathered at Maitighar Mandala, a monument in the heart of Kathmandu near the federal parliament building.

But the protests quickly spiraled out of control when some of the protesters surged towards the parliament building and began climbing up the gate, clashing with police. Police used live ammunition, water cannons, and tear gas against the protesters, according to Reuters news agency.

Nearly 19 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in the clashes on Monday, according to Nepali authorities.

“We all felt very hopeless and helpless at that point,” Shrestha said.

Several government ministers, including the home minister, resigned in the wake of the violence, which sparked widespread outrage, both within Nepal and internationally.

On Tuesday, the protests ballooned as people of all ages defied curfews and came out into the streets to protest the government’s bloody crackdown.

“(Gen Z) demanded accountability and fair investigation for this corruption, the luxury lifestyle of this, all these corrupted politicians’ kids,” said Shree Gurung, who went to the protests after seeing reports that young people were being killed.

“But unfortunately, what we saw (was) the government using excessive forces and killing, murdering these youths.”

From there, the unrest escalated.

Protesters smashed windows and looted local businesses and set government buildings on fire.

The country’s main international airport reopened on Wednesday after being shut for 24 hours because of the violence, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Gyanendra Bhul, told CNN.

The Supreme Court and the Singha Durbar, a sprawling palace complex in Kathmandu which houses Nepal’s government ministries, were both set on fire.

Photos showed protesters standing atop Singa Durbar waving the Nepali flag, in scenes reminiscent of a student-led uprising that toppled a government in neighbouring Bangladesh last year.

Video also appeared to show demonstrators ransacking Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s private residence on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Crowds of protesters could be seen breaking into the property and destroying furniture before setting it alight.

The protests, which are led by people ages 13 to 28 – the cohort known as Generation Z – are Nepal’s worst unrest in years.

Gen Z protesters who spoke to CNN distanced themselves from the chaos that followed, which they blamed on opportunists who infiltrated the movement.

“They destroyed everything,” said Sahadev Khatry, a lawyer who attended Monday’s protest but lamented the destruction.

“They’re not just buildings, they’re not just bricks,” Shrestha said. “They carry our history, our legacy.”

Oli announced his resignation on Tuesday in a letter that cited “the extraordinary situation” in the country, according to copy of the note posted on social media by a top aide.

A dark cloud of smoke hung over Kathmandu as the city burned, a sign of the turmoil that had overtaken the country.

In the hours after Oli stepped down, the Nepali Army appealed for a peaceful solution through dialogue, urging “all citizens to exercise restraint to prevent further loss of life and property in this critical situation.”

Even as protesters celebrated the toppling of a leader they regard as a symbol of deep-rooted problems, many were still reeling over the young lives lost and the cost of this week’s turmoil to their city.

By Wednesday, the streets in Kathmandu, many littered with piles of charred debris, were largely quiet. Some buildings still smoldered from the fires of the day before, and soldiers carrying rifles enforced a nationwide curfew.

What comes next is uncertain.

Nepal’s President Ramchandra Paudel has urged demonstrators to “cooperate for a peaceful resolution” and called on youth protesters to “come to talk.”

It was unclear as of Wednesday whether any talks were scheduled between authorities and the decentralised, leaderless youth-led protest movement.

Several protesters who spoke to CNN said they want to see new leadership with more Gen Z representation.

“I think Nepal is ready to see the young faces along with the experienced ones,” Khatry said.

Others were worried about the response from a governing class that has just been rattled by its biggest challenge in years.

“This is very chaotic. All WhatsApp groups are exploding with discussions and fears,” a 24-year-old law student from Kathmandu told CNN, requesting anonymity.

“We are scared that students who protested peacefully will also be targeted.”