Blast during sermon by radical Myanmar monk injures five

A small blast near an event by a radical Myanmar monk who stands accused of inflaming Buddhist-Muslim tensions has left five people injured in Mandalay, police said on Monday.

“The scene was about 90 metres away from the preaching event,” said an officer from police headquarters in the capital Naypyidaw who asked not to be named.

Police said five people – a Buddhist child novice monk, three women and one man – were slightly injured in the blast, which occurred in a residential area of Myanmar’s second largest city on Sunday evening.

“We do not know the cause of the blast yet and are still investigating. But we think it could be from a homemade device,” the officer said.

He added that a vehicle where the blast was thought to have originated was slightly damaged.

The cleric Wirathu confirmed the incident and blamed “the minority” linked to an article in Time magazine, which highlighted his anti-Muslim sermons as a key factor in inciting a wave of deadly religious violence this year.

Several episodes of unrest – mainly targeting Muslims – have exposed deep rifts in the Buddhist-majority country and cast a shadow over widely praised political reforms since military rule ended two years ago.