A Monday morning explosion at a toll gate in Mandalay’s Aungmyethazan Township killed up to two people and injured as many as 10, according to the coup regime and eyewitness accounts.
The junta released a statement that evening regarding the 10am blast on 19th St, claiming that two people were killed and nine were injured, but social welfare volunteers told Myanmar Now the number of those wounded was at least 10, with one casualty.
Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify the figures.
“It happened at the checkpoint at the toll gate. They were doing security checks. A 100-household administrator died on the spot,” an official from a social services group based in the township said.
“We helped transport 10 persons including a female police officer and a male police officer that were injured. There was one death,” the official added.
The checkpoint was located between Aungmyethazan and Patheingyi townships, and is used daily by soldiers, police, firefighters, and members of the military’s administration team to carry out searches of passing vehicles.
“We heard a very loud noise and then chairs, pieces of wood and trees were blown into the air. The police started shooting into the sky as well,” an eyewitness told Myanmar Now of the explosion, adding that five ambulances arrived shortly after the blast.
Following the explosion, the junta blocked all traffic on 19th St and ramped up searches of vehicles.
Another social services group that helped in the aftermath of the incident reported that eight people with severe injuries, including a junta officer, were sent to the hospital located in Mandalay Palace.
“The most severely wounded were the military captain and a firefighter. The captain was hit in his spine and the firefighters were hit by shrapnel in their legs. The traffic police officer got his leg broken,” a member of the social services group said.
At the time of reporting, no group had claimed responsibility for the blast.
Another bomb attack on a military column in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi Township on Saturday killed two soldiers.
Targeted bombings and shootings have intensified in Mandalay since the National Unity Government declared war on the military dictatorship on September 7.
On the same day as the NUG’s announcement, bombs targeted a military battalion at the base of Mandalay Hill and a police checkpoint in Pyigyidagun Township; a junta-appointed administrator was also shot and killed in Maha Aungmyay Township on the following evening.
The People’s Defence Force (PDF) of Mandalay also released a statement on September 9 requesting civilians to look out for one another and to collaborate with the PDF in the war against the junta.
