Three prison employees and five visitors were killed after two parcel bombs detonated at the jail’s entrance on Wednesday morning.
The largest jail in the nation, Insein Prison, is home to about 10,000 inmates, many of whom are political prisoners.
As of yet, no one organization has taken ownership of the assault. Officials reported that there were 18 further injuries.
According to the officials, the post room of the prison was where the bombs exploded. Later, there was discovered another explosive packed in a plastic bag that did not explode.
The officials stated that all five of the dead visitors were female relatives of those who were detained.
One of them was Ko James’ mother, a prominent student leader who was detained by Myanmar’s military authorities in June. During the week of her son’s court appearance, she had been going to the prison to give a rice box to him.
On the outskirts of the old capital, there lies a sizable, tightly guarded facility known as Insein jail.
According to rights organizations, the century-old prison is notorious for its harsh circumstances and terrible treatment of inmates.
The military junta in charge of Myanmar overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected civilian government in a bloody coup last year.
However, the People’s Defence Force, an active guerrilla front, presents the junta with formidable opposition in several regions of the nation (PDF).
Since the military put an end to the massive protest movement against its coup last year, bomb assaults in Yangon have been frequent, the majority of them tiny.
These have typically been directed against people who are perceived to be working with the military, such as government officials, informers, and more lately, air force pilots who are allegedly involved in aerial assaults on communities that are defying military control.
Additionally, there have been attempted assassinations, drive-by shootings, and, as attitudes have become more entrenched, beheadings in rural regions that are attributed to both sides.
According to analysts, the volume of deadly clashes and conflicts this year is symptomatic of a civil war.
