MANDALAY—The house of an Upper House parliamentarian for Tamu Township, Sagaing Region was the target of a hand grenade attack on Tuesday.
According to police, a hand grenade with the safety pin removed was found inside the fence of the house of lawmaker U Maung Maung Latt.
“Luckily the hand grenade did not explode because it is rusty, so no one was hurt,” said Police Major Thein Naing of the Tamu Township police station. “The grenade has been taken away by the army. We are investigating the case and searching for suspects.”
The family of the parliamentarian reportedly told police they saw two strangers on a motorcycle stop by the house, throw a grenade and ride away.
The lawmaker is in Naypyitaw at the Parliament and only his mother and sister are staying at the house.
“I have no enemies. It is hard to say who would be the culprit as our town is a border town and many strangers come and go. In most cases when a house in our town is attacked with a grenade, or shot at, the culprit is unknown,” said U Maung Maung Latt.
U Maung Maung Latt spoke in the Upper House in 2017 about the local security situation in Tamu, which borders areas of northeastern India where separatist militants are reportedly operating.
There have been many reports of unknown attackers shooting and bombing homes in the region.
Many in the area believe the attack is related to the parliamentarian’s address to the Upper House about the separatists, however U Maung Maung Latt said it is hard to say who the culprit is.
“It is very hard to prove that the incident is connected to my address to the Parliament, because in almost every case of an attack or blast or shooting in our region, the culprits were unknown,” he said.
“The lives of parliamentarians are threatened not only in our region. The incident at my home is about the challenge of security for all of us,” he said. U Maung Maung Latt also mentioned the Arakan Army’s abduction of U Whei Tin, a parliamentarian from Paletwa, Chin State, in early November as an example.
You may also like these stories :
Mob Attacks Homes of Illegal Money Syndicate Operators in Mon State
Men Died in Army Detention, Cremated without Families’ Knowledge
Military Attacks on N. Rakhine Villages Leaves Locals Wounded, Displaced
