Myanmar scraps mass rally amid bomb fears
Authorities in military-ruled Myanmar yesterday scrapped a mass rally against an outlawed ethnic minority group for fear of a repeat of deadly bomb blasts that killed at least 11 people in Yangon, an official said.
Several thousand people were converging on the ancient city of Bagan for a rally led by the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a prominent government social organisation, to denounce a recent declaration of independence by a group of exiled Shan ethnic leaders.
"The mass rally was aborted after yesterday's bombings in Yangon," a source close to the military government told AFP.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. USDA officials who had already reached Bagan were hastily brought back to the capital, while the crowds convening on the historic site were being told to disperse, the source added.
Tensions also remained high in Yangon one day after the worst attack of its kind since the military junta assumed power in a coup more than 40 years ago.
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