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Two killed and many others wounded in Lashio bomb blast

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion, which comes amid an escalation of clashes in northern Shan State 

A bomb blast killed two people and wounded more than a dozen in the northern Shan State town of Lashio on Wednesday, according to a military source and a member of a local rescue organisation.

“According to the initial report, two men were killed and 10 others injured by a blast” that happened at around 6pm near a petrol station outside Lashio, a military source who requested anonymity told AFP.

The source said the blast, which hit a nearby passenger bus, was caused by a bomb planted on a motorbike. Local authorities were investigating, they said.

The blast killed two people and wounded 14, a member of a local rescue organisation told AFP, also requesting anonymity.

One body had been found inside the bus, which had been carrying around 30 passengers when it was struck, they said.

The blast, which occurred at a local Denko petrol station, also damaged the station itself and other buses parked there, according to local media reports.

Fighting between the military and an alliance of anti-coup fighters and ethnic rebels has rocked parts of northern Shan State near the China border in recent days.

A spokesperson for the Ta’ang National Liberation Front, a prominent ethnic rebel group operating in the area, told AFP it was not behind the blast.

Since the military seized power in February 2021, Myanmar has seen almost daily bombings and targeted killings as the military and opponents of its coup battle each other.

Four people were killed in Lashio in April after a series of car bombs exploded at a pagoda where a crowd had gathered to mark the start of the Buddhist New Year.

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