An explosion took place at a community hall in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi Township on Thursday evening that had been designated by the coup council authorities as a site for locals to register their overnight guests as is required by the junta.
“There were almost 200 people present. They announced in the streets that people had to submit their guest lists. Many people came,” an eyewitness told Myanmar Now. “I heard a loud explosion at around 5pm and I saw people running out of the hall.”
After the February 1 coup, the military ordered people to register members of their households and any overnight guests, a policy once enforced by the previous military regime that makes it harder for their opponents to hide in others’ homes and evade arrest.
At least five people were injured in the incident, according to the eyewitness. One was reportedly a 100-household administrator under the local military council, who is said to have been seriously wounded.
Shortly after the blast, several junta troops arrived at the hall, which is located at the corner of 44th and 45th streets in Mya Yi Nandar ward.
Myanmar Now has been unable to confirm whether there were any casualties or if any arrests were made.
No organisation had claimed responsibility for the explosion at the time of reporting, but
since May, local resistance and guerrilla forces have been carrying out assaults on the military council’s administrative mechanisms, as well as targeted killings of junta-appointed administrators and civilians suspected of acting as collaborators with the coup council or military informants.
On Wednesday, Aung Swe Tun, the administrator of Shwe Hlan ward in Mandalay’s Chan Aye Thazan Township, was shot dead at his office.
Citing Covid-19 prevention, the junta has imposed a daytime and overnight stay-at-home order on Mandalay since Monday, with civilians only allowed to go out between 4am-9am and 3pm-6pm. Military checkpoints have also been set up around the city.
