|
Zaw Htay, a director in the office of Myanmar’s president Thein Sein, said Myanmar’s armed forces—known as the Tatmadaw—weren't responsible for the bomb, and instead blamed Kokang rebels that have been fighting government forces near the China border for more than a month.
“If a Tatmadaw aircraft wanted to fly across the border, we would have to seek permission from the other country,” he said. “According to our records, the Tatmadaw did not enter that area.”
Mr. Zaw Htay said Myanmar is willing to cooperate with China to investigate the incident. Members of the Tatmadaw and Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs plan to meet their Chinese counterparts in coming days to discuss the bombing.
Relations between Myanmar and its northern neighbor have been tense since fighting erupted in Kokang, a small region in Myanmar’s Shan state. Displaced by the fighting, hundreds of Myanmar nationals have fled to Yunnan, with which Myanmar shares a 2000 kilometer (1243 mile) border—raising concerns that Myanmar’s inability to deal with decadeslong ethnic conflicts on its borders is spilling into China.
This isn't the first time in recent years since fighting in Myanmar has spilled beyond its borders. In early 2013, during an intense bout of armed conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Kachin Independence Army, stray bombs fell into China, prompting an effort from China to act as a mediator and restore stability in the area. |
|
P7, P7M8, P7M10, P7M13, P7K3
Anaconda, Python, King Cobra, Diamondback
SSG04, Scout, AUG A3, AUG Special Receiver
SR15E3 LPR, SR15E3 Mod1
1903, K98, Lee-Enfield, Mosin Nagant
|