Double bombing near Thailand-Myanmar border

A double bombing hit the Thailand-Myanmar border area on Saturday night. It has not yet been confirmed who was responsible for the two bombs, however, Thai officials said they were likely planted by a group opposing the Burmese military regime. Luckily, no casualties have been reported.

The bombs detonated near the Thai-Myanmar Friendship bridge, over the border from Thailand’s Mae Sot district in Tak province.

The first bomb exploded at the Myawaddy-Mae Sot border checkpoint. The bomb damaged a car, Asia News Network reported. Shortly after the explosion, the second bomb went off at Bayinnaung Market, about 1 kilometre away from the checkpoint.

The bombings involved improvised explosive devices, according to security officials in Mae Sot.

Following Myanmar’s coup in February 2021, the country has plunged into chaos. On April 23, another bomb and a gunfight wreaked havoc in Myawaddy Township. The car bomb, suspected to have been left in a pickup truck, exploded at an immigration building.

After the bomb went off, armed anti-government rebels arrived at the building and swapped gunfire with the Burmese troops guarding the building and border checkpoint. After a 15-minute fight, the rebels fled.

Earlier this month, about 20 Myanmar junta soldiers and pro-regime militia members were reportedly killed in resistance ambushes. According to Irwaddy.com, the soldiers were killed in Taze Township as the Taze People’s Defence Force and other resistance groups ambushed about 80 soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee militia members near Shwetakyaw village in the Sagaing Region’s Taze township.

Last week, journalists in Myanmar reported that the junta had killed three civilians and wounded 19 others near a Buddhist pagoda in Mon state. The ruling military threatened to sue the news agencies, and the journalists have now gone into hiding.