Mae Sot (Thailand), Oct 17: Another two explosions have rocked the Thai-Myanmar border area, the latest in a series detonated since Myanmar reopened its checkpoints this week, Thai authorities said today. Immigration officials at the Thai-Myanmar friendship bridge in Thailand's Mae Sot district said two blasts occurred 15 kilometres into Myanmar's Myawaddy province yesterday evening.
The officials told reporters there were no reports of casualties from the latest explosions, but Myanmar vendors said three Myanmar soldiers were killed and several were injured.
Myanmar slammed its border checkpoints shut in May after bloody clashes between its troops and another ethnic militia. They were reopened on Tuesday after intensive diplomacy between the neighbours defused the row.
Earlier yesterday a small bomb went off in Myawaddy town near a pier controlled by the democratic Karen Buddhist army (DKBA), a militia group aligned with the Myanmar army.
Another device fitted with a timer was found undetonated nearby.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, or another explosion that occurred on Tuesday morning at a market 2.5 kilometres from the Thai border in the same area.
Myanmar authorities have stepped up security checks and deployed an extra 100 soldiers to patrol public areas such as markets, temples, schools and hospitals, the local vendors said. Bureau Report