Blasts kill at least 8 at Myanmar’s Insein Prison

PTI, Oct 19, 2022, 4:38 PM IST

Representative Image (Source: PTI)

Bangkok: A bombing on Wednesday near the front gate of Myanmar’s main prison for political detainees killed at least eight people, including visitors and prison personnel, local media and the government said.

Five people who were delivering parcels to prisoners and three prison staff were killed when two bombs exploded around 9:40 a.m., News Of Myanmar, an online news service sympathetic to the country’s military government, reported on the Telegram social media platform.

The blasts occurred inside and outside of the parcel reception office near the main iron gate of Insein Prison in Yangon, the country’s biggest city.

The military’s information office confirmed in a statement that five visitors, including a 10-year-old girl, and three prison staff were killed, and that an unexploded bomb had also been found in a parcel. It said 13 visitors, including a 9-year-old boy, and five prison personnel were being treated for injuries at Insein township hospital.

The prison has been notorious for decades for housing political prisoners under various military governments. Families of prisoners are allowed to bring parcels with items such as food, clothing and medicine.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack.

The Yangon Revolution Force, Yangon Urban Guerrillas and General Strike Committee, all resistance groups engaged in struggle against the military government, released statements on their Facebook pages condemning the attacks for hurting civilians.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi last year, triggering nationwide peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with deadly force. The repression led to widespread armed resistance, which has since turned into what some U.N. experts have characterized as civil war.

About 2,367 civilians have died in a crackdown on resistance, according to detailed lists compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights watchdog group.

Bombings and shootings in Myanmar cities and armed clashes in the countryside occur daily. Urban guerrillas opposed to military rule carry out targeted killings of people associated with the military and bombings of establishments with official ties.

Photos of Wednesday’s bombings, distributed by the military’s information office, show items scattered by the blasts and blood on the floor inside the building where parcels for prisoners are received.

A resident who lives near the prison’s entrance gate told The Associated Press by phone that he heard about 10 gunshots after hearing the two explosions but did not know if they caused any casualties.

A lawyer who went to the prison about an hour after the blasts said the areas for arriving visitors and receiving parcels were empty when he arrived, and extra security had been deployed in front of the prison’s main gate. He said he was told that hearings at the court inside the prison had been postponed.

The resident and the lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of being targeted by security forces for speaking to the media.