An early morning explosion near a checkpoint in Myanmar’s eastern Kayin state killed a civilian and injured 12 people, the junta told RFA Monday.
Saw Khin Maung Myint, the junta’s state spokesperson, said most of the injured were staffing the checkpoint in Hpa-An township.
“The explosion happened at 6:48 this morning,” he said.
“Ten personnel providing security at the gate and three civilians were injured. A civilian died on the way to the hospital. I cannot say yet what kind of bomb it was.”
The spokesperson said the injured were all being treated at the emergency department of Hpa-An Hospital. He said Thanlwin Bridge – which links Hpa-An to Mawlamyine township – had been sealed off and security tightened while the junta searched for those responsible.
A Hpa-An resident, who did not want to be named for security reasons, told RFA that junta troops are carrying out a stop-and-search operation in the township.
“Security patrol vehicles are patrolling all the crowded places, including Hpa-An market,” he said.
“People everywhere are being searched by the troops.
“The blast was so loud that the entire Hpa-An town could hear it. I can’t yet confirm what type of blast it was.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion.
RFA called the spokesperson for the state’s leading ethnic army, the Karen National Union (KNU), but nobody answered.
There have been more than 5,000 clashes between junta troops and armed groups, including the KNU, in Kayin state since the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup, according to a May report by independent researchers the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar. That’s the highest number of battles of any state or region in Myanmar,
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.