Soldiers and police sealed off two supermarkets and a convention center yesterday in Yangon, Myanmar, where bomb explosions blamed on rebels and dissidents killed at least 11 and wounded 162 others.

　　City residents were fearful of more explosions after the quick succession of blasts on Saturday at the Yangon Convention Center and two upscale City Mart supermarkets - the worst bombings to shake the capital in decades.

　　The government blamed ethnic rebel groups, including the Karen National Union and the Shan State Army, and a self-proclaimed government-in-exile called the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, or NCGUB, for the attacks.

　　State television said "terrorists" trying to disrupt "stability and tranquility" were responsible.

　　But the NCGUB and other opposition groups denied involvement.

　　"We totally reject this accusation by the military," Sann Aung, an NCGUB minister, told The Associated Press in Bangkok by telephone. "We're never involved in terrorism and also we are never involved in bomb blasts."

　　He said Myanmar's junta was behind the explosions, which were part of a campaign of "state terrorism against the people."

　　U Lwin, spokesman for the National League for Democracy, said he strongly condemned "this cowardly attack on innocent people."

　　"This is the worst bombing incident I ever recall in more than 40 years (in Myanmar), and this is the job of professionals," said U Lwin.

　　The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said terrorists had planted a "time bomb" in a bag under seats at an entertainment venue on the third floor of the convention center and had left explosive devices in bags at the front counters of the supermarkets.

　　Soldiers and police sealed off all three sites yesterday as workers began removing broken glass and covering window openings with plywood.

　　Thailand's state news agency yesterday put the death toll at 20, citing Suriya Lapwisuthisin, the Thai deputy commerce minister. The number couldn't be immediately confirmed.

　　At the convention center, three people from Myanmar - including a Buddhist monk - were killed while several Thais were hurt in a stampede.

　　In northwestern Yangon, residents said more than a dozen were wounded at a City Mart supermarket. The victims were taken to Yangon General Hospital - the main hospital in the city of 5 million.

　　At another City Mart in northern Yangon, several people were wounded from a blast that caused similar damage, another witness said.

　　The blasts came less than two weeks after a bombing at a bustling market in the northern city of Mandalay killed two women and wounded 15 other people.

　　(The Associated Press)