An army truck with soldiers on board was hit by a large explosion in Yangon’s Tamwe Township on Friday afternoon, in what may be the deadliest attack so far against the coup regime in Myanmar’s largest city.
Eyewitnesses said the truck was parked outside an office of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), not far from a bus stop, when the bomb went off at around 3:20pm.
“Some men in a taxi threw a bomb at the military truck. When the bomb exploded, I heard a loud bang. Smoke rose. The truck was fully blown up and gutted by fire,” said an eyewitness who is also a Tamwe resident.
Ambulances and fire trucks arrived shortly after the blast. The witness said he did not know how many were killed or injured but there were soldiers inside the vehicle when the bomb exploded.
“There were several soldiers near the military vehicle. Two soldiers were seen using their phones in the truck’s front seats. In the back, there were four soldiers,” he said.
The truck had been parked outside the USDP office for three days, he added.
More explosions went off near the Tamwe Market and the Tamwe traffic junction on the same afternoon, another resident told Myanmar Now.
“A taxi driver lost his arm. The bombs went off when the traffic light was red and the cars were waiting. Two explosions occurred at that place,” the resident said. “Soldiers armed with guns near the General Administration Office in the area immediately ran out and came to the location.”
“Cars were not allowed to pass the area and roads were blocked,” he added. “Some cars nearby were trying to turn around, but the soldiers didn’t let them go, and hit the cars with the butts of their guns.”
He added that an army vehicle was parked near Tamwe Market after the incident and was conducting searches for suspects.
No group has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attacks. Guerilla groups have previously promised to only attack regime targets, and warned that the military may try to carry out false flag attacks on civilians to discredit resistance fighters.
A ward administrator in the same township was shot and killed on June 8.
The 68 Residence, a high-end condominium project owned by the family of the junta cabinet member Thet Thet Khine, was bombed on Thursday morning.
