U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2005 - Burma

Bilateral relations between Burma and the United States remain strained. The Government of Burma's willingness to cooperate and coordinate on antiterrorist activities within the country and throughout the region is minimal. The government does not openly share information on state security issues and takes every precaution to project an image that it is exerting full authority over Burmese territory. Sponsorship of terrorist organizations would be counterproductive to that goal. Burmese Special Branch police recently created a new counterterrorism unit headquartered in Rangoon. The United States relays to the government information from the United Nations on terrorist financing, which Burmese authorities then disseminate throughout the banking sector with instructions to report suspicious transactions.

Indigenous violence in Burma generally is targeted against the ruling regime rather than against U.S. citizens and facilities. Various insurgent groups in ethnic minority areas near the borders with China, India, Bangladesh, Laos, and Thailand conduct small-scale actions against the Burmese authorities. The government has attributed several bombings in the capital and elsewhere in recent years to domestic and exiled anti-regime elements.

The Burmese judicial system is corrupt and lacks transparency. The government defines almost all anti-regime activities as "acts of terrorism" and makes little distinction between peaceful political dissent and violent attacks by insurgents or criminals. Suspected perpetrators of any acts that oppose the regime are subject to lengthy detention without trial or due process.

Some observers posit possible links between known terrorist organizations and two local insurgent groups, the Rohingya Solidarity Organization and the Arakan Rohingya National Organization. There are few signs that either group remains active, although the Burmese regime's severe repression of the Rohingya Muslim population inside Burma could foster sympathy with extremist methods and objectives.

On April 26, a bomb exploded in Mandalay's central market, Ze Gyo, killing two persons and injuring more than a dozen; no foreigners were among the casualties. The Government of Burma claimed that the incident was a subversive act "committed by a group of insurgent destructive elements who wanted to disturb and destroy the stability of the state." Authorities have not made public, however, any evidence of a genuine investigation or identified the specific perpetrators.

On the afternoon of May 7, three devices exploded nearly simultaneously in downtown Rangoon at two busy shopping centers and at an official trade fair sponsored by the Government of Thailand. The bombings were unprecedented in their scope and coordination killing over 25 people and injuring at least 200. The Burmese Government again blamed the bombings on "anti-regime groups," individuals either domestically-based or living in exile. It also accused the United States of secret involvement. One of the Rangoon bombings occurred close to U.S. Embassy residences; two of the three bombs exploded at public supermarkets frequented by Americans, other expatriates, and middle-class Burmese. There is no evidence indicating that the Rangoon bombings were directed against Americans or American interests; no Americans were injured or killed in the explosions.

Despite the spate of bombings, in October, the Burmese Government unilaterally reduced security coverage at all foreign missions in Rangoon. In some cases, including in front of the U.S. Embassy, the government re-opened roads and lanes that had previously been closed to provide added protection against terrorist attacks.