BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — China’s consulate in Myanmar’s city of Mandalay was attacked with an explosive device, local media said Saturday, adding that no deaths or injuries were reported.
The blast occurred at the consulate office in central Mandalay, south of the sprawling Royal Palace, around 7 p.m. Friday, local media said.
China is a major ally and arms supplier to Myanmar’s junta, but it also maintains ties with ethnic groups fighting the military in Myanmar’s northern Shan state, according to analysts.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military deposed the government of Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power in 2021.
A statement from the junta on Saturday night blamed “terrorists” for the incident, which it said it was investigating in cooperation with consulate officials.
It said security had found “a blast” had occurred and that it was “raising the necessary security measures”.
“About two feet of clay tiles of the roof of the two-story building were damaged,” the statement said. A Myanmar official in Mandalay confirmed to Agence France-Presse there had been “an incident at the Chinese consulate office compound in Mandalay late evening yesterday.”