Explosions occurred at both a ward administration office and a military checkpoint in Bago on Tuesday night, according to local sources, in what the Bago People’s Defence Force (PDF) later claimed were targeted bombings of junta infrastructure.
Two blasts were heard at the Mazin ward administration office near Shwe Thar Lyaung pagoda, and it was assumed that they were bomb attacks, a local said, citing eyewitnesses.
“I heard that some people were injured but I don’t know for sure,” a 30-year-old man from the ward told Myanmar Now.
The other explosion reportedly took place at a military patrol station near a high school in Kalya Ni ward, next to Mazin.
“It’s where the military and the police were stationed. The patrol was done by the military. They usually had six to seven soldiers there. They weren’t on duty in the mornings. They were there only at night,” the local man said.
Soldiers reportedly fired shots and arrested at least two men on motorbikes after the blasts occurred. Further information could not be confirmed at the time of reporting.
The Bago PDF claimed responsibility for the bombings on Wednesday.
“We are trying to disrupt the mechanisms of the military council. They were indeed bombs. I heard there were some casualties but we are still investigating it,” a PDF member told Myanmar Now over the phone.
Commenting on a recent surge in Covid-19 infections, he speculated that the military had been intentionally denying life-saving treatment to patients in an attempt to punish the country for anti-coup activities.
“They’re trying to weaken the revolution by allowing the pandemic to worsen, and by not providing sufficient healthcare services,” the PDF member said.
The Bago PDF, which was formed on May 15, has stated that they plan to continue their anti-dictatorship activities undeterred.
Tuesday’s attacks were the latest in a series of anti-junta targets in Bago. On July 10, 100-household administrator Thaung Ngwe from Hintha Kone ward, was shot dead in a cafe by unidentified perpetrators.
On July 4, a ward administration office and an electricity office in Bago’s Hanthawaddy Township were also bombed.
Bago was the site of a brutal military crackdown on April 9, in which dozens of people were killed by the junta’s armed forces in an attack on a protest stronghold.
