Yangon residents say that Myanmar’s military has been on high alert in the city since Tuesday following a series of explosions in several different townships.
Military vehicles were seen patrolling a number of areas on Wednesday, local sources said. In Tamwe Township, junta forces were said to be conducting searches around Aung Mingalar Street after a bomb was discovered there on Tuesday morning.
One Tamwe resident told Myanmar Now that trucks filled with soldiers had also been spotted near the Yankin Centre shopping mall, northwest of where the bomb was found, as well as in residential areas farther south.
“They were patrolling around Kyauk Myaung and Tamwe wards, but they also checked the guest lists of households on 109th and 150th streets last night. We haven’t heard about any arrests yet, though,” the Tamwe local said.
An urban guerrilla group calling itself the Yangon Liberation Force later released a statement saying that it had planted the bomb near some military trucks, but decided not to detonate it due to the presence of civilians.
Meanwhile, soldiers were also seen conducting searches in Sanchaung Township on Wednesday morning after a hand grenade was thrown at a traffic police outpost under the Myaynigone overpass the day before.
“I saw junta vehicles patrolling around the neighbourhood between 8am and 9 this morning,” said one Sanchaung local.
There were also reports on social media of explosions in front of the Dagon Centre mall in Myaynigone and at a park on 5th Street in Hlaing Tharyar Township. Two civilians were reportedly killed in these attacks, and seven injured, but Myanmar Now was unable to confirm these reports.
On Tuesday, the Federal Liberation Army-Hlaing Tharyar, another urban guerrilla group operating in Yangon, released a statement claiming that it had bombed the home of Zin Zin Hlaing, the sister of coup regime leader Min Aung Hlaing. However, this could not be confirmed.
Two other armed organizations, Special Nway Oo and God’s Hand Forces, also released statements that they had attacked a traffic police outpost near the North Point Mall on Pyay Road in Mayangone Township. No further information was available.
The latest attacks come amid increasing repression of peaceful protests against the regime that seized power last year.
According to activist sources, more than 50 people were arrested in Yangon last month on suspicion of taking part in flash mob protests.
According to the latest figures released by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 11,483 people arrested since last year’s coup remain in detention.
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The resistance column said in its statement that it had suffered no casualties in the incident and had torched three buildings in Htamin Ma Sar where regime forces had been stationed.
At the time of reporting, the military had not released any information on recent clashes in southern Myanmar.
In a separate statement published on Friday, the Crocodile Column explained that it, as a coalition, was borne “out of necessity on the ground,” and intended to unify anti-junta defence forces in Tanintharyi. It also noted that it would abide by policies imposed by the NUG.
Throughout the nearly two years since the February 2021 coup, Tanintharyi Region, which has a heavy military presence, has seen several clashes between regime forces and local guerrilla groups.
However, the Crocodile Column described Thursday’s operation as the first in which several area resistance forces had collaborated on a single mission.