Two hurt in blast in Myanmar capital: Officials

A bomb exploded late today at a busy market popular with civil servants in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, injuring two people, a government official said.

A bomb exploded late on Friday at a busy market popular with civil servants in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, injuring two people, a government official said.

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"There was a bomb blast in a toilet at Myoma market at about 9:30pm (1500 GMT). Two people were slightly injured while running away. The authorities are investigating," the official told AFP, asking not to be named.

The military-dominated nation has been hit by several bomb blasts in recent years, which the authorities have blamed on armed exile groups or ethnic minority rebels.

An explosion on a passenger train near the capital last month killed two people and wounded nine others, according to officials. State media have accused Karen ethnic minority rebels of planting that device.

In April last year, in the worst attack in five years in Yangon, a series of blasts left 10 people dead and about 170 wounded as thousands of people gathered for festivities to mark the Buddhist New Year.

Myanmar's military junta handed over power to a nominally civilian administration in March after nearly half a century of army rule, following an election marred by complaints of intimidation and fraud.