By IANS,
Beijing : Four Chinese ships and a Myanmar patrol boat came under attack by an unidentified armed group on the Mekong river early Wednesday near a port in Myanmar, the People’s Daily reported Friday.
According to Thailand’s water police, the attackers fired two rockets, one of which missed the cargo ships and plunged into the river while the other exploded near the Myanmar patrol boat.
Though the four Chinese cargo ships, including an oil vessel, escaped the rocket fire, the attack has sparked a new wave of concerns over the safety of shipping through the Mekong river, the People’s Daily report added.
Thirteen Chinese sailors were killed Oct 5 when two Chinese cargo vessels were attacked in the Thai section of the river, known for drug and arms trafficking and other cross-border crimes, the Shanghai Daily added.
Mekong river, which passes through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, at over 4,000 km is the world’s tenth longest and Asia’s seventh longest river.