The 2018 Sittwe bombings were a series of three

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

blasts in Sittwe, the capital of

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Rakhine State Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady R ...

. One police officer received minor injuries from the blasts.

Background

Ethnic Rakhine insurgent groups have been

fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

the government of Myanmar since the early 1950s. Bombings are not uncommon in Myanmar due to the various ongoing insurgencies in the country, but they have been a rare occurrence in Rakhine State. However, Rakhine State has experienced an increase in guerrilla-style attacks by insurgents since 2016.

Bombings

One of the bombs exploded at around 4:30 am ( MMT) in the backyard of a residence belonging to Tin Maung Swe, a state government secretary, whilst the other two went off near a high court and a land record office. The blasts slightly injured a police officer. Authorities suspected that Swe was targeted because of his high position in the local administration. Three unexploded bombs were recovered and defused by authorities afterwards.

Investigation

Seven suspects were arrested by the Myanmar Police Force immediately after the bombing, whilst two others were detained later in the investigation. Naing Soe, a senior leader of the

Arakan National Council The Arakan National Council ( my, ရခိုင် အမျိုးသား ကောင်စီ; abbreviated ANC) is an ethno-political organisation in Myanmar that campaigns for the interests of the Rakhine people. It was founded at a co ...

(ANC) was among those arrested. On 26 March 2018, the police released five of the nine suspects, including Naing Soe, after they failed to find evidence against them within 30 days as police procedure requires. The released suspects were originally charged under Myanmar's

counter-terrorism laws Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

, but their release was ordered by the court after the police failed to show evidence linking them to the bombings. An extension for the police's remand of three of the suspects still detained was approved by the court on the same day; two of the suspects were accused of illegally crossing the

Bangladesh–Myanmar border The Bangladesh–Myanmar border is the international border between the countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar (formerly ''Burma''). The border stretches , from the tripoint with India in the north, to the Bay of Bengal in the south. About of the bo ...

, whilst another was accused of being involved with a bombing in

Mrauk U Mrauk U ( ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a subregion of the Mrauk-U District. Mrauk U is of great cultural importance to the local Rakhine (Arakanese) people, and is the location of many ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sittwe bombings, 2018 2018 crimes in Myanmar February 2018 crimes in Asia Internal conflict in Myanmar 2018 bombings Terrorist incidents in Asia in 2018 Terrorist incidents in Myanmar Attacks in Myanmar