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The editor of Bangladesh's first ever LGBT magazine has been hacked to death by suspected Islamist militants in a horrific attack, it is reported.

Julhas Mannan, 35, who worked for 'Roopbaan', was killed alongside his friend, Tanay Mojumdar, in an apartment in the capital of Dhaka, a police official said.

A third person was injured in the attack in Kalabagan, which was carried out this afternoon by three blade-wielding attackers posing as couriers, the official added.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesperson Maruf Hossain Sorder said: “Unidentified attackers entered an apartment at Kalabagan and hacked two people to death.

(Image: Facebook/Roopbaan)

"Another person was injured."

The attack took place on the second floor of a six-storey apartment building at around 5pm local time (12pm UK time), according to the Dhaka Tribune.

Some reports said up to six youths were involved in the brutal killings, which Mr Mannan's distraught mother is believed to have witnessed.

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Eyewitnesses said the attackers chanted, "Naraye Takbir, Allahu Akbar," as they left the flat after killing Mr Mannan and Mr Mojumdar.

It is unclear what weapons were used in the deadly attack.

'Roopbaan', which was launched by a group of volunteers in early 2014, is the country’s only magazine for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

(Image: Google)

In addition to his role as editor of the publication, Mr Mannan previously worked at the United States Agency for International Development.

He was the cousin of Bangladesh's former foreign minister Dr Dipu Moni, said Abdul Baten, deputy commissioner of Ramna division police.

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The killings come just two days after a university teacher was hacked to death about 125 miles northwest of Dhaka by suspected ISIS terrorists.

Rezaul Karim Siddiquee was found lying in a pool of blood near his home after apparently being attacked while waiting for a bus to work.

(Image: Getty)

The Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the killing.

The militant group said the professor had been murdered for 'calling to atheism', the US-based SITE monitoring service said quoting ISIS's Amaq Agency.

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country, has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past few months.

Liberal activists, members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have been targeted in the assaults.