Bangladesh vows justice in killing of two men, including gay activist

The Bangladeshi prime minister has vowed to hunt down and prosecute those who fatally stabbed two men, including a gay rights activist who also worked for the US Agency for International Development, and accused the country's opposition party and allied militants of orchestrating the attack.

The killings on Monday night were the latest in an ongoing wave of attacks claimed by radical Islamists and targeting the country's outspoken atheists, moderates and foreigners. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The victims were identified as USAID employee Xulhaz Mannan, who previously worked as a US Embassy protocol officer, and his friend, theatre actor Tanay Majumder. Mannan was also an editor of Bangladesh's first gay rights magazine, Roopbaan, as well as a cousin of former Foreign Minister Dipu Moni of the governing Awami League party.