By Xinhua
Yangon : Eight passengers were killed and six injured in a mine blast attack on a bus by an anti-government armed group in northeastern Kayin state, the New Light of Myanmar reported Thursday.
A seven-member group of the Kayin National Union (KNU) detonated the mine and fired small arms Tuesday at a passenger bus that was on its way from Kawkareik to Myawaddy, close to the Thailand border.
The local army units are in hot pursuit of the attackers, the report said. The report charged the KNU for repeatedly carrying out destructive acts, causing instability in the state and disrupting the law and order.
According to official reports in June this year, a total of 27 people were killed and 11 wounded in two separate shooting incidents on passenger buses by unidentified insurgents in Myanmar’s Kayin and Kayah states.
After the policy of national reconciliation was adopted in 1989, 17 armed insurgent groups have made peace with the government. The KNU has not made any ceasefire agreement.