Al-Qaida offshoot kills Bangladeshi gay rights activist
Ansar al-Islam, an offshoot from al-Qaida, has claimed responsibility for the murder of Xulhaz Mannan. Mannan was a high-profile gay rights campaigner and editor of the country’s first LGBT magazine. His death marks the latest in a series of murders of noted liberal activists, academics and minorities. Mannan’s friend, actor Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, was also killed in the attack, which took place in the capital, Dhaka. A spokesman for the police dismissed Ansar al-Islam’s claims, arguing that Islamist extremist groups like al-Qaida and ISIS, had no organisational base in Bangladesh. The attack follows two other murders this month; one was an English language professor and the other a law student.

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A group affiliated to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the murder of a Bangladeshi gay rights campaigner and editor of the country’s first LGBT magazine.

Xulhaz Mannan, 35, was killed on Monday in his apartment in capital city Dhaka by a group of assailants who posed as couriers. His friend, actor Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, 25, was killed in the same attack.

A Twitter account claiming to belong to Islamist group Ansar Al Islam said its fighters had killed Mannan and Tonoy because they were “the pioneers of practicing and promoting homosexuality in Bangladesh”.

The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified and Ansar Al Islam - which is part of al-Qaeda’s Indian Subcontinent branch - has issued similar claims in the past.

Mannan was the editor of Roopbaan, the country's only magazine for the LGBT community. He also worked for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and was previously a US Embassy protocol officer.

The killings are the latest in a string of murders of liberal activists and other minorities in Bangladesh.

Julhas Mannan was an editor for Roopbaan, which focuses on issues facing the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (Roopbaan/Facebook)

Maruf Hossain Sardar, spokesman for Dhaka city police, dismissed the group’s claim as baseless, saying militant groups like Isis and al-Qaeda had no organisational base in Bangladesh.

The attack comes after Isis claimed responsibility for the murder of Rezaul Karim Siddique, a 58-year-old English professor who died after being attacked with machetes as he left for work on Saturday. A statement from the militant group accused him of "calling to atheism".

Earlier this month, a Bangladeshi law student was hacked with machetes and shot in Dhaka after expressing secular views online. Last year, four atheist bloggers were also killed.

Homosexuality is currently illegal in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 160 million people.