A bomb exploded on the front yard of a Shan politician on Thursday night, leaving one man injured in Shan State’s Namhkam Township.

Sai Aung Win, an executive of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, said his brother-in-law Sai Nyunt Maung was hospitalised for shrapnel wounds on 18 September.

“It was around five past eight in the evening,” said Sai Aung Win. “I was watching the news on TV, but I narrowly escaped the explosion because I had just gone upstairs to fix the light, right before the device went off.”

He said that Sai Nyunt Maung, also known as Sai Aik, sustained injuries to his leg, stomach and face.

“There was a very loud boom – the whole town could hear it – local police, military commanders and government officials all came to inspect the scene,” he continued.

Sai Aung Win said the explosion left a foot-wide crater  in the yard and that some walls of the house were damaged.

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Namhkam police confirmed that the explosion occurred and said that an investigation in underway to identify the culprits.

“There was a bombing in Namhkam last evening,” Namhkam police told DVB on Friday. “We have not yet identified what kind of explosive was used, but the site has been cleared.”

Local sources said the device was thrown from a passing motorbike carrying two unidentified men.

Sai Aung Win suggested that it could have been a deliberate attack targeting him for his advocacy of farmer’s rights in the town, but there is currently no explicit motive and no suspects have been identified.

Namhkam, located in northern Shan State near the border with China, is rife with militia activity and is frequently host to mysterious explosions. In recent years, Namhkam has also been a hotbed of conflict between government troops and the myriad ethnic armed groups that occupy the area.