Bomb blasts outside Myanmar's Yangon prison kill eight, wound 18

The junta said 'terrorists' were responsible. Local media, citing prison officials, said at least three prison staff were among the dead

A bombing on Wednesday near the front gate of Myanmar’s main prison for political detainees killed a number people, including visitors and prison personnel, local media and the government said. Credit: AP Photo

At least two bombs exploded outside a prison in Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon on Wednesday, killing eight people and wounding 18, the junta said.

The blasts hit a crowd lining up to drop off parcels for inmates at Insein Prison on Wednesday morning, the junta's information team said in a statement, without specifying exactly how many explosions had occurred.

The junta said "terrorists" were responsible. Local media, citing prison officials, said the dead included three prison staff and a 10-year-old girl.

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The junta added that security forces had defused another "homemade mine" found nearby. One witness queueing at the counter told AFP the first blast hit around 9:30 am (0300 GMT).

"Then another two went off quickly. After that we heard shooting as well," said the witness, who requested anonymity. "I saw some people bleeding. The glass around the counter was all shattered." According to another witness, security forces locked down the area around the sprawling, colonial-era prison after the blasts.

Pictures in local media purporting to capture the aftermath showed what appeared to be bloodstains on the floor around a counter, and shattered windows behind.

The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a coup last year. Self-declared civilian "people's defence forces" have sprung up across the country to fight the junta, surprising the military with their effectiveness, some analysts say.

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Across the country, there are almost daily killings of low-level junta officials or anti-coup activists, with details murky and reprisals often following quickly. While most of the violence has occurred in rural areas, Yangon has also been rocked by a spate of bombings.

In July, a bomb blast near a shopping mall in Yangon killed two people and wounded 11. In May, a blast near a bus stop in a busy neighbourhood in the city killed one man and wounded nine people. The junta later said the bomb had gone off accidentally and that the victim had been in contact with PDF groups it has declared "terrorists".

More than 2,300 people have been killed in the military's crackdown on dissent since the coup and over 15,000 arrested, according to a local monitoring group. The junta blames anti-coup fighters for the deaths of almost 3,900 civilians.