MYANMAR: Blasts from at least one parcel bomb in Myanmar have killed five people, including an ousted lawmaker and three police officers who had joined a civil disobedience movement opposing military rule, media reported on Tuesday.

Since the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown in a coup on Feb 1, Myanmar has seen an increasing number of small blasts in residential areas, and sometimes targeting government offices or military facilities.

The latest blasts were in a village in the southern central part of Myanmar in Western Bago and occurred at around 5pm on Monday, the Myanmar Now news portal reported, citing a resident.

Three blasts were triggered when at least one parcel bomb exploded at a house in the village, killing a regional lawmaker from Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy (NLD) party, as well as the three police officers and a resident, the report said.

Another police officer involved in the civil disobedience movement was also severely wounded after his arms were blown off by the explosion, the resident was cited as saying. He had been hospitalised and was receiving treatment, it said.

Khit Thit Media also reported the blasts, citing an unnamed NLD official in the area.

The reports could not independently be verified and a military spokesman did not answer a phone call seeking comment.

Violence has escalated since the coup, with hundreds reported killed by security forces, trying to quell pro-democracy protests in cities and rural towns. Ethnic militias have also backed opposition to the junta, and the military is fighting these groups on the fringes of Myanmar.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2021