Maungdaw - A red alert has been sounded by Burmese military junta authorities, which has stepped up security measures in Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships on the western Burma border for possible bomb attacks.
A police officer in Maungdaw said that a military intelligence report claimed some 40 saboteurs had intruded into Burmese territory from the Bangladesh border to carry out targeted attacks in the area.
"Security has been tightened here since last Saturday following a military report that 40 odd terrorists have been entering Burmese territories from the Bangladesh side to sabotage government buildings, roads, crowded public places in Buthidaung and Maungdaw," the officer told Narinjara without official authorization.
He said that soldiers were currently being deployed at locations with police security deployments along the 16 mile highway that connects Buthidaung and Maungdaw in northern Arakan, after bomb reconnaissance battalions were deployed to search for bombs or explosives in every government office and construction site.
According to local people, personnel from military intelligence, CID and SIB, are also being deployed to closely monitor public places such as jetties, bus stations, and markets. Police have been collaborating with members of the Village Peace and Development Councils to visit houses and scrutinize guest lists during night time along the western border.
The stepping up in security and bomb alerts came about a day after the head of the ruling regime Senior General Than Shwe warned during his May Day state address that saboteurs from outside and inside the country were conspiring to derail the forthcoming elections.
A series of bomb blasts occurred recently in Burma just after an attack on the X20 water festival pandal in Rangoon on 15 April, killing 10 and injuring at least 170.
The Burmese junta often blames exiled opposition and ethnic armed groups whenever a bomb blast occurs in the country.
According to border sources, there are some Arakanese ethnic armed forces fighting for the freedom of their homeland and democratic rights based along the Burma-Bangladesh border, but their forces have been gradually weakened since 2001.
