Myanmar

May 31 (UPI) — Fifty-five people were killed, including six children, in an accidental detonation of mining explosives in a rebel-held area of Myanmar, the armed group said Sunday.

The Palaung Self Liberation Front/Ta’ang National Liberation Army, also known as the PSLF/TNLA, said in a statement that many others were also hurt in the blast, which happened Sunday afternoon local time in northern Shan State.

Rescuers told the Shwe Phee Myay News Agency the entire village of Kaung Tat in Namkham Township had been virtually destroyed and that “dozens” had been injured in the disaster.

Local officials have sent out an urgent call for blood donations as emergency workers tried to free victims trapped in rubble.

The PSLF/TNLA confirmed that many homes in the village were damaged when soft gunpowder stored for mining operations accidentally exploded at around 12:30 p.m.

The fatalities included 25 females and 30 males, they said, adding that the cause of the explosion will be investigated in detail.

Authorities, they said, “will take action in accordance with the law.”

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army is one of the main ethnic rebel groups in Myanmar fighting for independence from the central government, which along with its ally the Palaung Self Liberation Front comprise a front of resistance to the country’s military government.

May 1 (UPI) — The military government in Myanmar announced former leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in 2021, has been moved from prison to house arrest.

Military leader Min Aung Hlaing released a statement to state media saying 80-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison after the military coup, will serve the remainder of her sentence on house arrest at an undisclosed location.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s party came to power in 2015. She had previously spent decades as a pro-democracy activist, leading to her spending more than 15 years under house arrest. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in 1991.

Her whereabouts since being convicted on charges including corruption and election fraud in 2021 have not been confirmed, but it is believed that she was being held at a military prison in Nay Pyi Taw, the nation’s capital.

The former leader’s son, Kim Aris, said he is skeptical of the announcement. He said a photo of his mother recently released by the military is “meaningless” as it was taken in 2022.

“I hope this is true. I still haven’t seen any real evidence to show that she has been moved,” Kim Aris told the BBC. “So, until I’m allowed communication with her, or somebody can independently verify her condition and her whereabouts, then I won’t believe anything.”