Petrol bomb thrown at Suu Kyi’s Yangon home
YANGON A petrol bomb was thrown at the lakeside Yangon compound of Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday while she was away from home.
"It was a petrol bomb," government spokesman Zaw Htay confirmed to AFP.
It caused minor damage. But the attack on the villa, where Ms Suu Kyi was held for long years of house arrest by the former junta, is hugely symbolic.
Ms Suu Kyi has increasingly attracted the ire of the international community over her perceived failure to speak up on behalf of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim community.
Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine State into Bangladesh since August, bringing with them stories of murder and rape.
But inside Myanmar, Ms Suu Kyi, who swept the elections in 2015, is still widely regarded as a heroine by the majority-Buddhist population, who fondly refer to her as "The Lady".
Many inside Myanmar regard the Rohingya as illegal "Bengali" immigrants.
- AFP
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