Bangladesh: 17 Christian houses burned down in Bandarban on Christmas eve

Christians are a minority community in the Muslim majority nation.

There has been a spike in attacks on minority communities, especially Hindus, ever since former PM Sheikh Hasina-led government collapsed in Bangladesh on August 5 amid protests against her regime.

Instances of such attacks on minorities have spiked during Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus-led interim government's tenure which took charge of the country on August 8, days after Hasina fled to India.

According to the victims, unidentified miscreants fled after setting fire to the houses at Notun Tongjhiri Tripura Para in Sarai union of Lama upazila at around 12:30am on Wednesday, reported The Daily Star.

The attack reportedly occurred when people visited nearby village for Christmas prayers.

The Chief Adviser's Press Wing "strongly condemned" the arson attack on the homes of the Tripura community, the Bangladeshi newspaper reported.

An FIR has been filed in connection with the incident.

Md Enamul Haque Bhuiyan, inspector (investigation) of Lama Police Station, told The Daily Star the law enforcers were working to bring the criminals to book after an investigation

A victim said his house was completely destroyed after it was set on fire.

Gungamani Tripura, a victim, told the newspaper: "Today is supposed to be the happiest day of the year for us. I never imagined such a thing would happen to us on Christmas."