Villagers say that they don’t know which organization was responsible for setting up the bomb.

Locals are alarmed following a bomb blast in northern Shan State’s Hsipaw Township on Monday.

The explosion—which locals believe was timed—occurred near Ner Moon and Ner Kyein villages at around 3 p.m. and caused 20 villagers to seek refuge in Mingalar Bodaw monastery in Hsipaw town. They returned later that evening.

“We fled when we heard the bomb explosion. It’s not from a battle. I don’t know which armed organization set up the bomb,” Ner Moon villager Lon Sam told SHAN.

According to Lon Sam, clashes often break out in Hsipaw Township between government forces and various ethnic armed groups, and locals are often fearful of going to work on their paddy farms in case fighting erupts.

“If we hear gunshots, we flee. Then when the sound of the shooting stops, we go home again,” he said, explaining how the villagers respond to the ongoing armed conflict in the area.