Residents in the central towns of Magway and Meiktila said they heard explosions at Myanmar military air bases on Thursday morning.
A Magway resident, who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity, said he heard three loud bangs from an air base about three miles outside of town at around 3am. “Some houses even shook,” he said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
After the explosions, security was tightened at roads leading into the city and the regime’s troops carried out raids at villages near the base to look for suspects, according to Magway locals.
The troops arrested several people at a market in relation to the explosion, they said, but it was unclear exactly how many.
On the same morning, explosions were reported at the Shante air base, north of Meiktila in Mandalay region.
A resident from Dhamma village, which is near the base, told Myanmar Now that he heard five explosions. Afterwards, a village administrator came to tell residents not to go outside.
“Debris fell near my house–so dangerous,” the resident said.
The military said at a news briefing on Thursday that four rockets were fired at the Magway base and five at the base in Meiktila. There was only minor damage and no casualties, the announcement said.
There were also explosions reported at the town’s immigration office and near a photo studio on Thursday morning, locals said.
“The roof of the immigration office was burst,” said a Meiktila resident. “We were hearing sounds of explosions all this morning, from the air base and in the city. We don’t know who did the attacks.”
