Bombs diffused at major int'l airport in Myanmar

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar (AA) - A bomb disposal team has diffused four homemade explosive devices found at a major international airport in the Myanmar's commercial capital.

The devices failed to explode, but the discovery follows a series of blasts in Yangon over the past week.

On Tuesday, the ministry of information said that a disposal unit had removed the bomb from Yangon International Airport's Terminal 1 in morning.

The devices were made from energy drink bottles and chemicals.

Over the past week, two devices went off outside a Yangon regional government building near the country's famed Shwedagon pagoda, three hit a supermarket, and four struck an immigration office.

Police have said that no one was killed or injured in the incidents, which also involved bombs made from energy drink bottles and chemicals.

On Tuesday, police said that two men -- who were among five people arrested in relation to the blasts -- had been released, and a man and two women remained in custody.

Though the motive for the explosions remains unclear as interrogations are still underway, the officer -- who spoke on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to media -- suggested that the incident may be linked to ongoing violence in western Rakhine State.

“[The] man often travels to Rakhine,” the senior officer said without providing detailed information.

Maungdaw Township in northern Rakhine -- an area predominantly occupied by the Rohingya Muslim minority -- has been under military lockdown since Oct. 9. after armed men killed nine border police officials in raids on police stations near the Bangladesh border.

The government has said that at least 87 people -- 17 soldiers and 70 alleged "attackers" -- have died in army clearance operations since the initial attacks, and Rohingya property has been destroyed.

Rohingya groups, however, have accused troops of killing civilians, raping women and burning down houses and religious buildings, and claim that the number of civilians killed in one weekend alone earlier this month could be as high as 150.

There has been no independent verification of the alleged attacks or arrests as access to the area has been under military control since the initial incident.