Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the brutal killings of Bangladesh’s first LGBT magazine editor, along with his friend in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Xulhaz Mannan, the editor of Roopban – the only magazine in Bangladesh advocating gay rights – and his friend Tanay Fahim were killed on Monday by armed assailants who entered their flat impersonating as courier company officials, police said.
Mannan’s body was found lying at the entrance of the house while Fahim’s body was found inside.
The Al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub continent (AQIS) claimed responsibility for killing the duo because they were “pioneers of promoting and practicing homosexuality” in the Muslim-majority country.
In a tweet, the AQIS said:
The mujahideen of Ansar al-Islam (AQIS, Bangladesh branch) were able to assassin Xulhaz Mannan and his associate Tanay Fahim. They were the pioneers of practicing and promoting homosexuality in Bangladesh. They were working day and night to promote homosexuality among the people of this land with the help of their masters, the US crusaders and Indian allies.
Mannan, 35, a cousin of former foreign minister Dipu Moni and ex-protocol officer of the US embassy, was known for his gay rights activism. Fahim, the other victim, was also a LGBT activist.
The killings came two days after the grisly murder of a liberal professor of Rajshashi University, Rezaul Karim Siddiquee in the northern Rajshahi city. The attack was claimed by ISIS.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)