Myanmar junta calls for vigilance

Web posted at: 1/13/2008 8:25:54
Source ::: AP

yangon • Myanmar's ruling junta warned the public to be vigilant and report suspicious activities following a bombing that killed one woman in the capital, state-run media said yesterday.

A bomb exploded at a railway station in Naypyidaw early on Friday, killing an ethnic Karen woman, the Myanmar Ahlin daily reported.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility. The news report said terrorists were smuggling explosives into the country to carry out bombings.

Authorities warned the public to be vigilant against terrorists and to cooperate with officials by informing them of suspicious activities and turning in the suspects, the report said.

Terrorism is rare but not unknown in Myanmar, which has been under military rule almost continuously since 1962.

The country underwent political turmoil in September, when the government crushed non-violent, pro-democracy demonstrations, detained thousands and killed at least 31 people, according to a UN investigator, whose tally was twice the toll acknowledged by the junta.

Naypyidaw is in a remote area 400 kilometres north of Yangon, the country's old capital and biggest city. It became the country's new administrative capital in November 2005.

The most deadly terrorist incident in recent years in Myanmar took place in May 2005, when three bombs went off almost simultaneously at two supermarkets and a convention center in Yangon. About two dozen people were killed and another 162 injured.