LGBT activist and editor slashed to death in Bangladesh
LGBT editor Xulhaz Mannan and activist Tanay Mojumdar hacked to death by suspected IS militants
LGBT activist Xulhaz Mannan was killed by Islamic extremist alongside activist Tanay Mojumdar
International media reports show that a top LGBT activist and editor for Bangladesh’s only LGBT magazine Roopbaan, as well as another magazine employee, were hacked to death in a flat in Dhaka.
The killings of Xulhaz Mannan and Tanay Mojumdar come two days after a university professor was also hacked to death by suspected Islamist militants, and the so-called Islamic State has also claimed this latest attack.
Bangladesh authorities have however insisted that there is no IS presence in the country, but alleged militants have killed a number of secular and atheist writers and members of religious minority groups in the past year.
"I am devastated by the brutal murder of Xulhaz Mannan and another young Bangladeshi," said US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat.
"We abhor this senseless act of violence and urge the government of Bangladesh in the strongest terms to apprehend the criminals behind these murders," she added.
The BBC adds that Roopbaan, a magazine and activist group for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, had not been condemned by the government and received some support from foreign embassies, despite the fact that homosexuality is considered illegal in the country. The group had however been careful to protect their identities given that the issue remains somewhat controversial in the country, but they had not believed their lives were at risk.
Both victims of the attack were openly gay and believed that if more gay Bangladeshis came out then the country would have to accept them, the BBC adds. They were behind the annual "Rainbow Rally", held on Bengali New Year, 14 April, since 2014, but this year's rally was banned by police as part of widespread security measures.
According to reports, Bangladesh's best known blogger Imran Sarker, has said he received a death threat on Sunday. Sarker led major protests by secular activists in 2013 against Islamist leaders and said he had received a phone call warning that he would be killed "very soon".
Earlier in April, a Bangladeshi law student who spoke out in an online video expressing his secular view, was hacked with machetes and shot in Dhaka, and four prominent secular bloggers were killed with machetes last year.
There have also been attacks on members of religious minorities including Shia, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus, with victims including two foreigners: an Italian aid worker and a Japanese farmer.
