A bomb exploded in front of the provincial headquarters of the ruling CPP in Kompong Speu province on Wednesday night causing minor damage to a wall around the building but no injuries, a provincial police official said on Thursday.
Provincial police chief Keo Pisey said the bomb was detonated at 10 p.m. in Kong Pisei district and that an investigation into how the explosion occurred and who was behind it was under way.
“The bomb was made with TNT powder and tied with a key and exploded at 10 p.m. [on Wednesday] night, but the headquarters’ fence only received minor damage and was not destroyed,” Mr. Pisey said.
“Our experts are working with CMAC [Cambodian Mine Action Center] to analyze what type of bomb it is,” he added.
The explosion comes after a bomb resembling a mortar shell exploded at 1:10 a.m. on August 7 near the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, shattering the window of a nearby bank, but causing no injuries.
Investigations are ongoing in that case, and no arrests have been made.
According to provincial military police commander Men Siborn, the latest detonation was aimed at unsettling people in the area.
“This case has created chaos in the town and has scared our people,” he said, adding that military and provincial police are cooperating on the investigation.
He said the bomb appeared to have been a mixture of TNT powder and chemical fertilizer.
CMAC director Heng Ratana said his staff had collected samples from the bomb blast site.
“Now is too early to say what kind of homemade bomb was built, but CMAC is working with the samples to find out,” he said.
Chhay Sinarith, director of the Ministry of Interior’s internal security department, said initial investigations had not produced any evidence but that forces are cooperating to find out who is behind the attack.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said he had heard about the attack, but that it is still “too early to make any judgement, because the investigation is still going on.”
