An explosion was reported in downtown Yangon yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, injuring at least 10 civilians, one of whom died en route to hospital.
According to eye witnesses and local news media, the device went off at the Bar Street bus stop, on Anawyahtar Road, at around 3.30pm.
While the official stance of the military-run government is that this was a terror attack, carried out by the National Unity Government’s (NUG) and the People Defence Force (PDF), most public opinion thinks otherwise.
“I was across the street when it happened. Soldiers and policemen were on the scene quickly. Personnel that seemedlike they were from the bomb squad were also seen patrolling and searching for any other devices. Barricades were placed and all vehicles passing were searched,” said an eye witness who works at a store on Anawyahtar Road.
He said that the speed with which security forces sent out afull assortment of personnel was suspicious.
Minutes following the blast, a document, which reportedly came from a “People Defence Force – Y A N G O N”, spread on social media, claiming responsibility for the attack.
This has, however, widely been seen as propaganda, due to the speed with which the document was released and becauseit mostly came from sources that are known to be pro-military, amongst several other places.
The NUG’s Ministry of Home Affairs and its minister Lwin Ko Latt claimed that the NUG is neither responsible nor involved in such affairs, blaming the action on the military-run government that sought to discredit the NUG and other resistance forces.