At least 18 people – including atheist bloggers, foreign aid workers and religious minorities – have been killed over the past two years

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Police in Bangladesh have said more than 5,000 people, including 85 suspected Islamist radicals, have been arrested in recent days as they try to stop a wave of attacks on minorities and activists.

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At least 18 people, including atheist bloggers, foreign aid workers and religious minorities, have died in attacks in Bangladesh over the past two years. In separate incidents last week, two Hindus were killed. The attacks have alarmed the international community and raised questions about whether the secular government can protect minorities and secular intellectuals in the Muslim-majority country.

The crackdown began four days after the wife of a police superintendent, who led operations against Islamist militants and drug cartels, was shot and stabbed to death in the city of Chittagong. The killing caused a furore among Bangladesh’s political establishment.

Days after that attack the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, vowed to root out radicals and defeat their attempts to establish Islamic rule in the country.

Authorities have arrested suspects in some of the 18 attacks, mostly low-level operatives accused of following orders to carry out attacks but none has been prosecuted. Police have said they are waiting until investigations are complete before taking any suspects to court.

Almost all the attacks have been claimed by transnational Islamist extremist groups, including al-Qaida affiliates and Islamic State.

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The killing of a Hindu ashram worker in northern Bangladesh on Friday was also claimed by Isis, according to the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi activity online.

The government, however, says transnational terrorist groups have no presence in Bangladesh. It blames the attacks on domestic groups aligned with political opposition parties, though it has presented no evidence of such a campaign and the opposition denies the allegations.