The Bangladeshi branch of al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the killing of a gay rights activist and his friend.

The victims were identified as Xulhaz Mannan, an activist who also worked for the US Agency for International Development, and his friend, theatre actor Tanay Majumder.

The death undermines Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's insistence just hours earlier that her political opponents were to blame.

Ansar-al-islam says it targeted the two men because they were pioneers of practising and promoting homosexuality.