Myanmar's military government said at least 11 people were killed in four bomb explosions that struck the capital Yangon on Saturday, but witnesses said dozens of people died in the unprecedented attacks. The near-simultaneous mid-afternoon blasts targeted two packed upscale shopping centres, the Dagon and Junction Eight, and the downtown Yangon Trade Centre in the worst attacks since the junta took power 40 years ago. State radio and officials in two Yangon hospitals confirmed 11 people dead. The radio said 163 people were injured while Yangon General Hospital reported more than 200 hurt.
The junta blamed three ethnic rebel armies and an exile pro-democracy group for the bomb blasts, state television reported. Two of the groups, representing Shan and Karen ethnic groups, quickly issued denials.
A witness at the downtown Dagon centre, where two bombs exploded, counted at least 20 bodies, while Thai diplomats in Yangon told AFP that "tens of people" were killed there.
A witness at Junction Eight, about 13 kilometres (eight miles) north of the city centre, estimated casualties at about 40.
State radio said "terrorists were responsible for the deaths of innocent people."
Authorities blamed the rebel Karen National Union, the Shan State Army-South, and the Karenni National Progressive Party, as well as a government in exile known as the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, state television said. The KNU and the SSA-South quickly denied responsibility.
Prime Minister Soe Win and the junta's first secretary, Lieutenant General Thein Sein, went to the bomb sites along with the home affairs and health ministers, the radio said.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ordered a C-130 cargo plane to fly to Yangon Sunday and bring home the more than 200 Thais who were participating in the trade fair.
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