Monday, 07 November 2011 21:38 Tun Tun
New Delhi (Mizzima) – A cargo riverboat was damaged by a bomb blast in the Salween riverside village of Measalat in Hphapun District in Karen State on Sunday, according to residents.
The bomb blast hit the ship about 9:30 a.m. It was broken into two parts by the blast and two other cargo boats were also destroyed.
There were no reported injuries.
The ship is owned by a Thai citizen and registered in Burma to provide transportation services, according to residents.
“The ship can carry at least 80 buffaloes or cows. I think it was a time bomb. Bomb splinters and five cell batteries were found,” a resident told Mizzima. “The bomb was made with gunpowder and was very powerful.”
The underground militant group All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) based in Mae Hong Son Province in Thailand, which is located near the blast site, confirmed that a bomb blast took place, but said it had no other details.
“There was a big boat in a village on the Salween River. The boat was bombed or mined. That’s all I know,” said Win Tint Han, an ABSDF official.
Residents said the boat may have been bombed because it had transported government troops. Government security forces are guarding the boat.
“The government troops wanted to move from Darkwin to Thawlayhta. The troops asked for help from the ship owner,” a resident said. The Maesalat Port is also known as Thawlayhta Port.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Major Saw Phaw Do, a commanding officer from Brigade No. 7 of the Karen National Union (KNU) said he did not know which group was responsible for the blast.
New Delhi (Mizzima) – A cargo riverboat was damaged by a bomb blast in the Salween riverside village of Measalat in Hphapun District in Karen State on Sunday, according to residents.
The bomb blast hit the ship about 9:30 a.m. It was broken into two parts by the blast and two other cargo boats were also destroyed.
There were no reported injuries.
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| A map of Hphapun District and the Salween River in Karen State. Map: KHRG |
The ship is owned by a Thai citizen and registered in Burma to provide transportation services, according to residents.
“The ship can carry at least 80 buffaloes or cows. I think it was a time bomb. Bomb splinters and five cell batteries were found,” a resident told Mizzima. “The bomb was made with gunpowder and was very powerful.”
The underground militant group All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) based in Mae Hong Son Province in Thailand, which is located near the blast site, confirmed that a bomb blast took place, but said it had no other details.
“There was a big boat in a village on the Salween River. The boat was bombed or mined. That’s all I know,” said Win Tint Han, an ABSDF official.
Residents said the boat may have been bombed because it had transported government troops. Government security forces are guarding the boat.
“The government troops wanted to move from Darkwin to Thawlayhta. The troops asked for help from the ship owner,” a resident said. The Maesalat Port is also known as Thawlayhta Port.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Major Saw Phaw Do, a commanding officer from Brigade No. 7 of the Karen National Union (KNU) said he did not know which group was responsible for the blast.
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