Regime troops injured at least two civilians as they fired guns in Yangon’s Tamwe Township on Tuesday afternoon, after an unidentified attacker shot a police officer in front of a branch of the state-owned Myanma Economic Bank.
It is unclear if the police officer survived the attack or how badly injured he was. Soldiers exchanged fire with the attacker, but then began firing shots at residential buildings and civilians after he escaped, local residents told Myanmar Now.
“The soldiers were shooting at random people,” said a resident from Myittar Nyunt ward, where the shooting took place. At least two civilians were injured in the attack, she added.
Myanmar Now is still gathering information about the casualties.
Regime forces blocked several roads in Tamwe and stopped and searched vehicles, locals said. They also raided the Hotel YNO in Myittar Nyunt in search of the gunman.
The military’s spokesperson and the police station in Tamwe could not be reached for comment.
Pro-regime private news outlet People Media said on Tuesday that the assailant is still at large but his car and gun were seized.
Anti-coup guerrilla groups have carried out numerous attacks against regime targets since early May. Earlier this month attackers blew up a military truck in Tamwe with several soldiers inside.
Almost a dozen administrators who were appointed by the coup regime or continued to work after it took power have been assassinated in Yangon, with multiple others killed across the country.
On Sunday, two explosions at an immigration office in Yangon’s Mayangone Township injured several soldiers, according to witnesses. After the attack, regime soldiers stormed a nearby neighbourhood and fired their guns randomly for about half an hour, residents said.
