Capital’s Main P.O. Hit by Explosion

An explosion rocked the main post office in central Vientiane, the Laotian capital, injuring four or five people, witnesses said. Bystanders at the adjacent Morning Market said the powerful blast occurred at 11 a.m. The extent of the wounded’s injuries was not immediately clear. The Laotian Foreign Ministry declined to comment. Dozens of police and armed soldiers sealed off the area, a rare show of force in the secretive Communist state. The normally sleepy capital has been rocked by a series of bomb explosions over the past four months. No one has claimed responsibility.