Bangladesh court sentences 6 militants to death in slayings

By JULHAS ALAM
Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A Bangladesh anti-terrorism tribunal has sentenced six Islamist militants to death in the brutal slayings of two men, including a prominent gay rights activist. Five years ago, assailants hacked to death Xulhaz Mannan, an editor of Bangladesh’s first gay rights magazine who had also worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and his friend Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy. The killings were part of a wave of attacks targeting foreigners, religious minorities and secular bloggers that raised fears that religious extremists were gaining a foothold in the country. The government has claimed success in controlling the militancy after a nationwide crackdown on radical Islamists left dozens of militants dead and many others in jail.