YANGON — Seven small bombs exploded in the suburbs of Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon but did not cause any casualties, police in the military-ruled nation said Thursday.The blasts late Wednesday and early Thursday were the latest in a series to hit the former capital in recent months, with previous attacks blamed on armed exile groups or ethnic rebels.
Police said that the bombs were planted in the Hlaint Thayar, Shwe Paukkan and Mingalardon areas on the outskirts of the city and that the culprits remained unknown. ""
"There were no casualties because there were almost no people around when the blasts happened," a police officer said on condition of anonymity.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombs.
Myanmar authorities said in August that authorities had foiled a plot by a man sent by exile pro-democracy groups to bomb Yangon during a visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in July.
Ban was in Myanmar to seek the release of opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi, whose house arrest was extended by 18 months in August after she was convicted over an incident in which an American man swam to her house.
Myanmar was also rocked last month by intense clashes between government troops and rebels in Kokang, a mainly ethnic Chinese region of Myanmar's Shan state, which sent thousands of refugees pouring over the border into China.
The regime has recently stepped up its decades-long campaign against minority insurgent groups in an apparent attempt to crush them before controversial elections planned for next year.
Credit: AFP
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