Christian leaders in Bangladesh have joined the international community calling to restore governance and peace in the country as vandals rampaged worship places, houses, and properties of religious minorities amid the ongoing political upheaval.

Officials of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a forum of minorities, said hooligans targeted at least 10 Hindu temples and hundreds of houses and properties of religious minorities, mostly Hindus, since Aug. 4.

Bangladesh has been without a government after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Aug. 5 and fled to India shortly before millions marched to the capital, Dhaka, demanding an end to the regime.

Crowds clamored for her resignation, holding her responsible for a brutal police and army crackdown on students’ protests that left hundreds killed and thousands injured.

At least 542 people, including dozens of policemen, have been killed in violence since July 16, reported the leading Bengali-language daily Prothom Alo.

After Hasina and most of her ministers fled the country, chaos descended as alleged “Islamist vandals” took to the streets, and law enforcement agencies refused to act as they lacked a command line.

As the Muslim-majority nation struggled without a government, vandals and criminals targeted Hindus, who are traditionally seen as supporters of Hasina’s party — the Awami League.

“The minorities, who are mostly Hindus, have been calling us frantically. We are trying to help them and are documenting their cases,” Nirmol Rozario, leader of the council and a Catholic, told UCA News.

Christians and other minority groups want security, said Rozario, also the president of Bangladesh Christian Association.

In an attempt to bring back peace, Bangladesh’s army head, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, addressed the nation hours after Hasina fled and promised an interim government until a democratically elected government was installed.

Bangladesh’s only Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer, Muhammad Yunus, was declared interim government chief on Aug. 6. The names of other government members have not been announced yet.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), the global body of Protestant Churches, urged the military “to prioritize the swift return to civilian rule” in an Aug. 5 statement.

Establishing “a stable, democratic government is crucial for the nation’s long-term peace and prosperity,” Professor Jerry Pillay, WCC secretary general, said.

The WCC also supported the call of the National Council of Churches in Bangladesh for prayers for ethnic and religious minorities that are under attack, he said.

Besides Hindus, the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect, considered heretics by Muslim hardliners, has also come under attack.

At least 25 Ahmadiyya families in Sherpur district in central Bangladesh were forcibly driven away from their homes.

The “Islamist attackers” then ransacked and destroyed the houses of Ahmadiyya families, said Ahmad Tabshir Choudhury, secretary of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Bangladesh.

“Youths have fled the area for safety while other family members hid themselves in crop fields,’ Choudhury told UCA News.

On Aug. 5, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, the European Union, the United States, and Canada called for a democratic transition of power and immediate action to restore law and order in Bangladesh.

In separate statements, they also emphasized ending vandalism and violence against minorities and vengeance attacks while also bringing those responsible for the killings to book.

A Catholic priest in Dhaka, preferring anonymity, told UCA News that all churches have been asked to remain cautious to prevent any attacks.

Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi, vice-president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh, told UCA News that authorities “must take immediate measures to stop the violence and destruction.”

“All need to remain calm and exercise restraint at this critical moment,” Rozario said.