US says troubled by recent spate of violence in Bangladesh

Washington: The US has said it is troubled by the recent spate of extremist attacks targetting minorities, secular bloggers and foreigners in Bangladesh and exuded confidence that these incidents do not represent the views of the majority.

"We're troubled by the recent spate of extremist attacks in Bangladesh. We're confident, however, that these attacks do not represent the views of and are rejected by the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshis," State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau said yesterday.

Trudeau said these attacks are being carried out by a small group of terrorists who seek to stifle independent to violently attack those who disagree with them.

"We believe the government is working to address this problem. Our focus is on supporting their efforts to do so effectively while still respecting human rights," she said.

Bangladesh's proud is in historic tradition of being a pluralistic society that values diversity and free exchange of ideas, these are the very values that these extremists are attacking, the US official said.

There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh in recent weeks especially targeting minorities, secular bloggers, intellectuals and foreigners.

Last week, a 65-year-old Muslim Sufi preacher was hacked to death by unidentified machete-wielding assailants in northwest Bangladesh, two weeks after a liberal university professor was killed in a similar attack claimed by the dreaded ISIS terror group.

The country's first gay magazine editor was brutally murdered along with a friend in his flat in Dhaka by Islamists two days after the professor's murder.

Less than two weeks ago, a Hindu tailor was hacked to death by machete-wielding ISIS militants in his shop in central Bangladesh.