A military bomb squad officer lost his arm trying defuse one of six bombs that exploded this morning near government offices in Lanmadaw Township, according to witnesses.
The bombs detonated around 7:40am on the main road near the General Administration Office at the intersection of Phone Gyi and Strand roads as someone attempted to disarm them, residents told reporters. A burning vehicle believed to be the car bomb was spotted at the scene.
Police and military security forces quickly responded by blocking the road and threatening residents not to leave their apartments, one local told Khit Thit news. There were no public updates on the soldier’s condition.
“Street vendors have been asked to leave right away. [Soldiers] were yelling at our buildings and threatened to shoot us if we came out and looked at them,” another witness said. They’ve shut down the road and have been searching it.”
The same person said the bombs exploded within a few minutes of each other in a car parked on the side of the road, where they might have been planted.
“One of the soldiers who arrived to defuse the bomb lost an arm. They are still present. Firefighters were on the scene. The explosions were so loud that the buildings shook.”
“Now the military dogs [soldiers as he mentioned] are investigating apartments on 13th Street”, he added.
Bombings and guerrila attacks have escalated in Yangon and across the country after Myanmar’s shadow government, the National Unity Government declared a “defensive war” against the ruling junta in early September.
Soldiers and ward administrators working for the regime have been targeted for assassination and attack by resistance forces in a bid to take down coup leader Min Aung Hlaing.
