Three bombs exploded Saturday morning in Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state, authorities said.

One of the explosions injured a police officer, but no other casualties have been reported. Authorities are working to determine who was behind the bombings, police said.

Three unexploded devices targeting government offices and other places were seized at other locations in Sittwe.

The blasts come three days after a bomb explosion killed two bank employees and injured about two dozen people in the northeastern city of Lashio, where several ethnic insurgent groups are fighting the Myanmar military.

Last month, at least seven Rakhine Buddhists were killed and a dozen injured when local police fired at protesters in the ancient city of Mrauk-U.

A massive military intervention in Myanmar's violence-torn Rakhine state against Rohingya Muslim insurgents since August of last year forced about 700,000 Rohingya to seek refuge in neighboring Bangladesh.

Myanmar has said that government forces have undertaken a legitimate campaign against what it calls Muslim "terrorists."

The United States and the United Nations have called the military crackdown on the Rohingya “ethnic cleansing,” but the government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has blocked U.N. investigators and other independent monitors from entering the conflict zone.

</s>Image copyright EPA Image caption It was not immediately clear who was behind the blasts

Three bombs have exploded in Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar's restive Rakhine province, police say.

A police officer was slightly injured in the blasts. It was unclear who was behind them, police said.

One of the bombs went off near the home of a local official. The others went off near a court and a record office.

More than half a million mainly Muslim Rohingya from Rakhine fled the destruction of their homes last year in what the UN called ethnic cleansing.

Villages where Rohingya had lived were burned and several thousand people were killed in retaliation after Rohingya militants staged a series of attacks on police outposts.

The military in Myanmar (Burma) says it is fighting militants and denies targeting civilians.

There has also been tension between the authorities and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists after seven people were killed last month when police opened fire on a crowd trying to seize a local government office.

An ethnic Rakhine rebel group in the state vowed retaliation for the deaths of the protesters, AFP news agency reports.

Police spokesman Colonel Myo Thu Soe told Reuters news agency three other unexploded hand-made bombs had been found in the city.

Sittwe is about 100km (60 miles) south of where most of the violence against Rohingya has taken place.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Who is burning down Rohingya villages?

Most of Sittwe's Rohingya population left their homes after religious violence in 2012. More than 100,000 people are still living in internment camps outside the city.

Separately, satellite images suggest entire Rohingya villages, many already damaged by fire, have been completely bulldozed, campaign group Human Rights Group says.

It said the apparent destruction of homes erases evidence for legal claims from the exiled Rohingya.</s>YANGON: Three bombs rocked the capital of Myanmar's restive Rakhine State, Sittwe, early on Saturday, police said, adding that a policeman was slightly injured and the authorities were still working to determine who was behind the bombings.

The blasts come only three days after a large bomb killed two bank employees and injured nearly two dozen other people in the northeastern city of Lashio, where several ethnic insurgent groups are fighting the Myanmar military.

Sittwe is the capital of Myanmar's violence-torn Rakhine where Rohingya Muslim insurgent attacks last year sparked a massive military response that pushed 688,000 Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh. Many of them recounted killings, rape and arson by Myanmar soldiers and police.

One of the Sittwe bombs - which went off around 4:30 a.m. - exploded in the backyard of an outspoken state government secretary, Tin Maung Swe, police said. He is one of the highest-ranking officials in the local administration. The other two bombs exploded near the high court and a land record office.

"There are suspects, but now is not the time to talk. Police are trying to make sure about the suspects by analysing the structure of the bombs," police spokesman Colonel Myo Thu Soe, told Reuters by phone.

Myo Thu Soe also said three other unexploded hand-made bombs were found in the city.

The United Nations and the United States have called the crackdown on the Rohingya ethnic cleansing, but the government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has blocked U.N. investigators and other independent monitors from the conflict zone.

Myanmar says its forces have been engaged in a legitimate campaign against Muslim "terrorists".

No one has claimed responsibility for the Saturday blasts. The twitter account of the Rohingya insurgents, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, did not post anything new as of Saturday mid-morning.

Rakhine is also home to the Arakan Army, a Rakhine insurgent group.

Tensions have increased in Rakhine since mid-January, when Myanmar police shot dead seven demonstrators, while 12 people were injured in Mrauk U township in the northern part of the state, after a local gathering celebrating an ancient Buddhist Arakan kingdom turned violent.

Rakhine police chief Colonel Aung Myat Moe told Reuters that security was being tightened in the city and police were inspecting exit roads out of Sittwe.</s>BANGKOK—A series of bombs targeting government offices and other places in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state exploded Saturday morning, injuring a police officer, authorities said.

In all, three bombs exploded and three unexploded devices were seized in Sittwe, the state capital. One of the explosions was in front of a high-ranking government official’s residence, state police officer Aung Myat Moe said.</s>Three bombs exploded at different locations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state early on Saturday, AFP reported. The explosions took place in Rakhine’s capital of Sittwe, including one at the home of a high-level official, the Myanmar Police said.

“Three bombs exploded and three other unexploded bombs were found. A police officer was injured but not seriously,” an unidentified police officer said. He said the blasts occured at 4 am local time (3 am Indian Standard Time).

One of the bombs exploded in the compound of the state government secretary’s residence. Another went off near an office in the city and a third on a road leading to a beach. “Some streets are being blocked by police already because of the bomb blasts,” Sittwe resident Zaw Zaw told AFP.</s>Three bombs exploded in different locations in Rakhine's state capital Sittwe early Saturday morning, including at the home of a high ranking official, Myanmar police told AFP.

"Three bombs exploded and three other unexploded bombs were found. A police was injured but not seriously," a senior officer said on the condition of anonymity, adding that there were no deaths.

The blasts occurred around 4am (2130 GMT Friday) in the compound of the state government secretary's home, at an office and on a road leading towards the beach, the officer said.</s>'Three bombs exploded and 3 other unexploded bombs were found. A police officer was injured but not seriously,' a senior officer says on condition of anonymity

YANGON, Myanmar – Three bombs exploded in different locations around Rakhine's state capital Sittwe early February 23, Saturday morning, including the home of a high ranking official, Myanmar police told Agence France-Presse, adding that no deaths were reported.

"Three bombs exploded and three other unexploded bombs were found. A police officer was injured but not seriously," a senior officer said on condition of anonymity.

The blasts took place around 4:00am (2130 GMT Friday), the officer said.

One exploded in the compound of the state government secretary's home, while the two others hit in front of an office in the city and on a road leading to a beach.

A local official from the state government also confirmed the explosions.

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

"Some streets are being blocked by police already because of the bomb blasts," Zaw Zaw, a local resident of Sittwe, told AFP by phone.

Although bombings in the state capital are rare, restive Rakhine state has been roiled by bouts of of communal violence and insurgencies in other parts of the state.

Last August, its northern wedge was plunged into crisis after a sweeping military crackdown on Rohingya rebels sparked a mass exodus of the Muslim minority across the border to Bangladesh.

In January, seven people were killed and a dozen injured when police opened fire on a crowd of ethnic Rakhine Buddhists who were trying to seize a government office in the town of Mrauk U.

The violence prompted an ethnic Rakhine rebel group in the state to promise "serious" retaliation for the deaths of the protesters. – Rappler.com</s>In this image made from video, police and officials inspect the site of a bomb explosion early Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in Sittwe, capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar. Police say one of several bombs targeting government offices and other places in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state exploded, injuring a police officer. (AP Photo)

BANGKOK (AP) — One of several bombs targeting government offices and other places in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state exploded Saturday morning, injuring a police officer, authorities said.

In all, three bombs exploded and three unexploded devices were seized in Sittwe, the state capital. One of the explosions was in front of a high-ranking government official's residence, state police officer Aung Myat Moe said.

"There were three bomb explosions around 4 a.m. this morning where one policeman was slightly injured and we are still investigating crime scenes," he said

Last month, local police fired at protesters in the ancient city of Mrauk-U, killing at least seven Rakhine Buddhists and injuring a dozen. A township administrator was later found slain in his car by the side of the road.

Communal violence in Sittwe in 2012 displaced more than 120,000 Rohingya Muslims now confined to camps outside of the city, where most Rakhine Buddhists remain.

About 700,000 Rohingya have fled northern Rakhine towns and villages since last August to escape a military crackdown.</s>Three bombs exploded in different locations around Rakhine’s state capital Sittwe early Saturday morning, including the home of a high ranking official, Myanmar police told AFP, adding that no deaths were reported.

 “Three bombs exploded and three other unexploded bombs were found. A police officer was injured but not seriously,” a senior officer said on condition of anonymity. The blasts took place around 4:00am (2130 GMT Friday), the officer said. One exploded in the compound of the state government secretary’s home, while the two others hit in front of an office in the city and on a road leading to a beach.

 A local official from the state government also confirmed the explosions. The extent of the damage was not immediately clear. Although bombings in the state capital are rare, restive Rakhine state has been roiled by bouts of communal violence and insurgencies in other parts of the state.—AFP</s>Three bombs exploded in different locations around Rakhine's state capital Sittwe early Saturday morning, including at the home of a high ranking official, Myanmar police told AFP, adding that no deaths were reported.

It is the latest violence to hit Rakhine, which is festering with ethnic tensions and has been roiled by communal violence in the north against the Rohingya and insurgencies in other parts of the state.

Bombings in the state capital are rare however.

"Three bombs exploded and three other unexploded bombs were found. A police officer was injured but not seriously," a senior officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The blasts took place around 4:00am (2130 GMT Friday), the officer said.

One exploded in the compound of the state government secretary's home, while the two others hit in front of an office in the city and on a road leading to a beach.

A local official from the state government also confirmed the explosions.

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

"Some streets are being blocked by police already because of the bomb blasts," Zaw Zaw, a local resident of Sittwe, told AFP by phone.

In recent months unrest in Rakhine has been concentrated in the state's northern wedge, where a sweeping military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim community last August pushed nearly 700,000 refugees across the border to Bangladesh.

The state capital Sittwe lies around 100 km south of the epicentre of that conflict.

The explosions come almost exactly six months to the day since northern Rakhine was plunged into crisis on August 25 when Rohingya rebels raided police posts, killing at least a dozen officials.

Myanmar's military responded with a ruthless campaign that the UN says amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population, who are now overwhelmingly based in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Myanmar authorities deny committing any atrocities but have blocked UN investigators from investigating the conflict zone, where thousands of Rohingya are believed to have been killed.

Sittwe was once home to a sizeable Rohingya population but most were forced to abandon their homes by deadly communal violence in 2012.

Today a small community of Rohingya are confined to a Muslim enclave in the city while more than 100,000 others are still living in squalid displacement camps outside the capital.

In a separate conflict in Rakhine state last month, seven people were killed and a dozen injured when police opened fire on a crowd of ethnic Rakhine Buddhists who were trying to seize a government office in the town of Mrauk U.

The violence prompted an ethnic Rakhine rebel group in the state to promise "serious" retaliation for the deaths of the protesters.

Around two weeks later the town's administrator was found murdered on the side of the road.
Three bombs explode in Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar's Rakhine State, slightly injuring a police officer. Three other unexploded bombs are defused around the city. It is unclear who was behind the bombs, but most of them were placed next to government-related buildings.