A Chinese woman was said to have been arrested by local Burmese authorities on suspicion of being connected with the recent explosions in Kokang area, northern Shan State, local sources said.
A resident said she was arrested on October 25 morning, a day after the explosions, near the immigration office. However, no other details about her are available.
There were several explosions at different places in Laogai, the capital of Kokang on October 24.
The first four explosions occurred near Ying Phone hotel owned by former Kokang leader Peng Jiasheng at around 19:30 (Burmese standard time), he said.
Half an hour later, another blast occurred at the Kokang TV broadcasting station and destroyed one of the station’s communication satellite plates. It made a crater in the second floor.
“The explosions were not very powerful. TV programmes were on during the blast. If it was big, all the programmes would have stopped,” the resident said.
At about 20:30, another device exploded near Bei Sein Hotel of the current Kokang leader Bai Xuoqian. Nobody was reported hurt and there were no casualties. Only part of a wall near the hotel collapsed.
Another blast occurred at the police traffic office between 19:30 and 20:00 hours. The roof of the office was blown off and there was a gaping hole, said a taxi driver who asked not to be named.
Two unexploded bombs were found, one in a bush about 300 yards from the TV station and another at the immigration office.
The perpetrators of the blasts have not been identified yet. While some said that the explosions could have been the handiwork of the former Kokang leader Peng Jiasheng’s group, others said it could have been engineered by the Burmese Army.
An informed Wa source said, there has been some information from the Peng group that ‘something must be done each month to remind the people of the fighting that took place on 27 August.”
The recent blasts are the first in Kokang after the August offensive by the Burmese Army against the Kokang group aka the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).
