Yangon blasts kill 11, wound 162

Three bomb blasts rocked the capital of military-ruled Myanmar on Saturday, killing 11 people and wounding 162 others in an attack the junta...

Three bomb blasts rocked the capital of military-ruled Myanmar on Saturday, killing 11 people and wounding 162 others in an attack the junta blamed on ethnic rebels and exiled political opponents.

It was the latest in a series of explosions in the former Burma, ruled by the military since 1962, and the deadliest in the capital in more than two decades.

8216;8216;Authorities are in hot pursuit of those who carried out these terrorist acts,8217;8217; Myanmar state television said of the blasts, which occurred minutes apart at a shopping mall, a supermarket and trade centre.

It blamed the attacks on three ethnic rebel groups 8212; the Karen National Union KNU, Karenni National Progressive Party KNPP and Shan State Army SSA 8212; and the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma NCGUB.

8216;8216;These terrorist acts were carried out by a coalition of these four groups,8217;8217; said state television. A spokesman for the KNU, Myanmar8217;s largest armed ethnic group denied responsibility.

The first bomb on Saturday went off at 2:55 pm at a Thai exhibition at Yangon8217;s trade centre, killing three and wounding over 10 others, Thai officials said. A second exploded five minutes later at the Junction 8 supermarket, and was followed five minutes later by a third blast at the Dagon Centre shopping mall.

The blasts come amid increased tensions between the junta and some ethnic rebel groups since former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who had brokered several ceasefires, was ousted in late 2004. Analysts say the junta risks reviving dormant conflicts with ethnic guerrillas if it gives them a raw deal in a constitution being drafted at its much-criticised National Convention, which is set to resume late this year.

Story continues below this ad

The military says the convention is key to a seven-stage 8216;8216;roadmap to democracy8217;8217;. But Western governments, critical of Yangon8217;s human rights record and the detention of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, have dismissed it as a smokescreen to preserve the military8217;s grip on power.

Meanwhile, there have been reports of stepped up attacks by Myanmar forces against rebel groups such as the Shan State Army based near the Thai border 8212;Reuters