Series of bomb blasts rock Myanmar

There was no immediate claim of responsibility or response from the authorities. Myanmar's government usually blames bombings on ethnic minority rebels.

The first three blasts went off within minutes of each other in three different places.

The first suspected bomb exploded in a jeep in Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city after the former capital, Yangon.

The incident happened near Zaygyo Market, a major shopping centre in the central city, about 400 miles north of Yangon.

A bomb was also blamed for an explosion in an unoccupied house opposite a market in Naypyitaw, the new capital.

The third explosion hit Pyin Oo Lwin, a town about 45 miles north of Mandalay.

Also known as May Myo, Pyin Oo Lwin is a garrison town as well as a hill resort, home to four military institutes including the elite Defence Services Academy.

The fourth explosion went off in the same part of Mandalay as the earlier blast, near a rubbish dump. No casualties were reported.

There have been about half a dozen bomb blasts in Myanmar cities, including Naypyitaw and the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, in the past few weeks.

On May 18, two passengers were killed and nine were wounded when a bomb exploded on a train near Naypyitaw.

The government normally blames rebels who have been fighting successive central governments for greater autonomy since the country won independence in 1948.

Serious fighting broke out in the north of the country this month in Kachin state near the border with China, disrupting the operations of two Chinese-built hydropower plants.

Government troops fought with ethnic minority Kachin rebels, who state media said had destroyed 25 bridges in the area.