The explosion near a work camp outside the Pha Nok Kok village in the Long Cheang district occurred about 8 a.m. damaging a vehicle and forcing construction on the road project to be halted. The blast marked the third explosion in the area in less than a month.  Soldiers defused another bomb on the road in Namphanoy village on Dec. 30.

“While I was driving past the spot where the vehicle was bombed, I saw about 10 soldiers who were inspecting it with the dead and injured inside,” a witness told RFA. “When I was there and saw the truck damaged on the right side. The soldiers did not allow people to approach the truck. The truck attacked by the bomb is not far from the venue where soldiers were on duty.”

An official with the construction company, who requested anonymity so he could talk about the incident, said the company was pulling its equipment from the construction site.

“The company decided to remove all the construction machinery from the site for safety reasons,” the official said,

Police at the Xaysomboun province police station refused to comment on the explosion, but Chinese authorities in Vientiane confirmed that the victims were Chinese. A report on Xinhuanet – the website of China’s official Xinhua news agency – said Beijing was demanding an investigation. Xinhuanet also reported that one of the Chinese worked for a mining company from southwestern China's Yunnan Province, which borders Laos.

Official silence over the bombing is not unusual as the Lao government, which controls all media in the one-party state, looks like it’s trying to keep a lid on incidents of violence in the mountainous region. The central Lao province with a population of some 82,000 has seen a rise in violence recently.

The killing of Chinese nationals will be harder to keep quiet.

"This incident cannot be hidden because the victims are Chinese, but if it happens to Laos, it will be kept silent,” said one Vientiane resident, who requested anonymity. “The Lao officials will say nothing happens as usual, but it is not normal in Xaysombaun province, because it has become a case of monthly attacks since November last year.”

While Lao officials like to blame the violent unrest on “bandits,” Laos are beginning to think that there is more than criminals at work this time.

The following is a list of bombings and shooting incidents reported by RFA:

• The 10-year-old daughter of a government military officer died in a shootout at the officer's residence in Xaysomboun Province on Nov. 12;
• Three soldiers were killed between Nov. 15 and Nov. 18 when they pursued the anti-government resistance group, which sustained unknown casualties;
• Between Nov. 15 and 18th, in two separate incidents in which passenger vehicles were fired upon, one person was killed and six others were injured;
• Other shootouts reported  between soldiers and anti-government forces between Nov. 25 and Dec. 2, but casualties are unknown;
• Fifteen assailants on Dec. 15  shot two motorcyclists in Anouvong district of Xaysomboun province as they traveled along the road to Longchaeng district killing one and injuring another;
• Three days later, assailants shot at a truck transporting beer on Nammo bridge in Anouvong district, injuring two people ;
• On Dec. 28 a bomb damaged a truck on the road to a Phu Bia Mining Company work camp;
• A bomb was diffused by soldiers on the road to Namphanoy village on Dec. 30;
• On Jan. 14 gunmen shot up a passenger bus on Route 13 North in the Kasy district in Vientiane province, injuring one passenger;
• Three soldiers were injured on Jan. 21 on the road between the Luang Phanxay and the Phoukongkhao village;
• Two Chinese were killed and another injured in a Jan. 24 bomb blast near Pha Nok Kok village.

Lao’s secretive government has stopped short of identifying individuals or groups who might have perpetrated the attacks and there have been no claims of responsibility or political statements issued in connection with the incidents.

Discontentment among the Lao populace has focused on widespread corruption, wasteful government spending and poor delivery of government services. Some people have complained about the rapidly growing presence of Chinese investors, who are criticized for environmental damage, illegal logging, wildlife poaching  and bringing vices like gambling and prostitution to rural Laos.

Authorities in multi-ethnic Laos have long been wary of opposition among the Hmong ethnic minority, many of whom say they face persecution from the government because of their Vietnam War-era ties with the United States.

Thousands of Hmong fought under CIA advisers during a so-called “secret war” against communists in Laos.

General Vang Pao, who spearheaded the 15-year CIA-sponsored war, was an outspoken opponent of the Lao government who emigrated to the United States after the communists seized power in his country in 1975 and died in California in 2011 at the age of 81.

Since 2000, Laos has sustained periodic shootings and bomb attacks on transportation hubs and border checkpoints by suspected insurgents.

Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.

View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/laos-bombing-01282016154354.html

Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave@rfanews.org.  To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join@rfanews.org .

#####

All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr@rfa.org.