BANGKOK (HPD) — At least eight people, including visitors and officials, were killed Wednesday after two bombs exploded near the entrance to Myanmar’s main prison for political detainees, local media and the government said.
Five people who were carrying packages to inmates and three prison officials were killed by the explosion of the two devices at around 9:40 a.m., reported News Of Myanmar, an online news service affiliated with the military junta. country, in the Telegram messaging application. The explosions were recorded inside and outside the parcel reception office near the main gate of Insein prison in Yangon, the country’s largest city.
In a statement, the army information office confirmed that five visitors, including a 10-year-old girl, and three center workers were killed, and that another unexploded bomb was found in the courier. In addition, 13 visitors, including a nine-year-old boy, and five officials were treated for injuries at Insein hospital.
For decades, the prison has been known to house prominent political prisoners in the different military governments. Families of inmates can bring packages containing food, clothing, or medicine.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. In statements posted on Facebook, the Yangon Revolutionary Force, the Yangon Urban Guerrillas and the General Strike Committee — resistance groups against the military government installed after the coup in February last year — condemned the attacks for causing casualties. civilians.
Myanmar has been mired in violence since the military uprising against the elected civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, which sparked peaceful protests across the country that security forces repelled with lethal force. The repression led to widespread armed resistance, which has turned into what some United Nations experts have called a civil war.
Some 2,367 civilians were killed in the crackdown, according to detailed lists compiled by the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, a group that monitors rights.
The country registers daily attacks and shootings in the cities and armed clashes in rural areas. The urban guerrillas opposed to the junta execute people related to the army and attack establishments linked to the ruling party.