5 Injured in Blast At Wirathu Rally in Mandalay

Onlookers gather at the site of a bomb blast near the spot where controversial monk U Wirathu was holding a rally in Mandalay on the evening of Sunday, July 21, 2013. (Photo: Aung Ko Oo / Mizzima)Onlookers gather at the site of a bomb blast near the spot where controversial monk U Wirathu was holding a rally in Mandalay on the evening of Sunday, July 21, 2013. (Photo: Aung Ko Oo / Mizzima)

A small blast near an event hosted by a radical Myanmar monk who stands accused of inflaming Buddhist-Muslim tensions has left five people injured in Mandalay, police said Monday.

"The scene was about 100 yards away from the preaching event," said an officer from police headquarters in the capital Naypyidaw who asked not to be named.

Police said five people-a Buddhist child novice monk, three women and one man-were slightly injured in the blast, which occurred in a residential area of Myanmar's second largest city on Sunday evening.

"We do not know the cause of the blast yet and are still investigating. But we think it could be from a homemade device," the officer told AFP.

He added that a vehicle where the blast was thought to have originated was slightly damaged.

The cleric, Wirathu, confirmed the incident and blamed "the minority" linked to an article in Time magazine, which highlighted his anti-Muslim sermons as a key factor in inciting a wave of deadly religious violence this year.

Attacks against Muslims-who make up an estimated four percent of Myanmar's population-have exposed deep fractures in the Buddhist-majority nation and cast a shadow over its emergence from army rule.

Myanmar in June banned the controversial Time magazine cover story on Buddhist-Muslim unrest, which featured a picture of Wirathu and the caption 'The Face of Buddhist Terror'.

The article, one of a host of stories by the international media that have caused consternation in Myanmar, was met with anger on social media sites and its author, Time East Asia Correspondent Hannah Beech, has been singled out for personal criticism.

In an article on his Facebook page entitled "This is the...