IMNA – Two ice cream vendors were wounded yesterday from bomb fragmentation after an armed group exploded one of its vehicles in Three Pagodas Pass (TPP).
Speaking to the ambulance driver, who drove both patients to the hospital in Sangklaburi, he explained, “they were injured when the armed group exploded one of its vehicles. Pieces [from the car] exploded and wounded them because the armed group had detained them at that time.”
The two wounded were ice cream sellers, riding in a truck, when they were detained by the armed group and told to wait before the armed group exploded its own car. Both injured spoke Burmese, and one of them was muslim.
IMNA was unable to confirm the reason for which these two were detained, but it is known that the two vendors live in Sangklaburi, Thailand, 22 kilometers from TPP, and always come to TPP on Tuesdays to sell their ice cream.
One of the two was hit in the stomach, while the other was shot in the leg. Due to the severity of the injury, the man with the stomach wound was sent to Kanchanaburi hospital, while the other was treated at Sangklaburi hospital.
Yesterday in TPP, an armed group fired an RPG into Aung Tin Win’s home. Known to be a Burmese government supporter, Aung Tin Win owned the largest commodities store in the TPP area, selling gold and timepiece products. Witnesses of the event reported that Aung Tin Win was allowed to leave his home with his family members before the armed group fired the RPG. The house was burnt down and Aung Tin Win reported sustaining a small injury when leaving his shop.
It has been confirmed that the armed group who set fire to Aung Tin Win’s home was the same armed group who bombed the Military Intelligence office in TPP on June 5th. The truck the armed group seized and used to exit TPP town on June 5th was the same truck to be bombed by the armed group yesterday. Though the armed group arrived in TPP yesterday with four vehicles, the vehicle they burnt was the same they seized from the TPP resident.
Residents nearby Aung Tin Win’s house have observed that a mine, bullets, and wire ropes were left in bags on the road between his and Ko Than Win’s home; the homes are diagonally opposite from each other.
Currently, TPP has no electricity. The electricity was turned off by the Burmese Electricity Department when it spotted a bomb placed near the electricity distribution control station, which transfers electricity from the Thai side of Three Pagodas Pass into the Burmese side.
Shops throughout TPP have discreetly stayed open, leaving only one door open for which customers can enter. Schools haven’t officially closed, but it is noticeable that most parents have not allowed their children to leave home today.
