Two gay rights activists were killed this week in Dhaka, Bangladesh, according to the Guardian.

The victims, identified as Xulhaz Mannan and Tonoy Mahbub, both served on the staff of Roopbaan, Bangladesh’s first and only LGBT focused magazine. Mannan was the magazine’s editor and a top gay rights activist. He was also a former employee of the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka.

Ansar al-Islam Bangladesh, a militant faction linked to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility in a statement saying it was because they were “promoting homosexuality.”

According to the Associated Press, the two were killed by a gang of at least five men who posed as couriers in order to gain access to Mannan’s apartment on Monday night.

This attack follows a string of other fatal attacks on writers and publishers in the region. In 2015, several bloggers were killed by Islamist militants for promoting secularism. Religious extremists have even published a hit list for activist bloggers in Bangladesh, where it is illegal to display homosexuality.

Many activists in the region claim that the police have not been thoroughly investigating the murders connected to the LGBT community and that is contributing to the problem.

“Bangladeshi authorities have a legal responsibility to protect and respect the right to life,” said Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s South Asia director. “They must strongly condemn these horrific attacks, something they have failed to do so far.”

U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat also spoke out, urging the government “in the strongest terms to apprehend the criminals behind these murders.”



No arrests have been made as of early Wednesday. Click here for more.

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