Thailand: A key suspect in the recent Bangkok shring bombing was captured at Thailand's border with Cambodia. The man who is now detained, was reported by some Thai media outlets to be carrying a passport for a Chinese citizen with an Islamic name, from the western province of Xinjiang. The captured man resembled the one who was seen leaving a backpack at the blast site.
The police has also issued fresh arrest warrants for three suspects believed to be Turkish, amid growing speculation that the country's worst terrorist attack was carried by the Turks. Prime Minister Chan-o-cha described the man as a “main suspect” in the deadly bombing that claimed 20 lives, 6 Thais and 14 ethnic Chinese tourists. “It would be great if he were. Then we will know who they are, where they came from, who's behind this,” said Gen Prayuth, noting that the suspect resembled a yellow-shirted man seen in a surveillance video apparently planting the bomb.
National police spokesman, Prawut Thavornsiri said investigators believed the suspect was “an important person in the network” behind the bombing, and described him as appearing “similar” to the prime suspect captured on security camera footage. There have been no claims of responsibility for the August 17 atrocity or a second aborted bomb attack when a similar device was abandoned in a canal shortly afterwards and exploded with no casualties the next day. Immediate suspicion is directed towards Thailand’s domestic turmoil, a Muslim insurgency in the south and international Islamic terror groups. However, recent proofs bring to light a possible link-up between Turkish-Uighur militants, notably a radical ultra-nationalist Turkish terror faction called the Grey Wolves, and human trafficking crime gangs.
“It is important the security services recognise squarely that the Erawan atrocity was the not the fumbling revenge of a locally-based criminal gang facing a police 'crackdown', but rather a well-planned and technically sophisticated international terrorist operation,” said Tony Davis, a respected Bangkok-based security analyst who first publicised the possible Grey Wolves connection.
Thai police have taken the captured suspect to Bangkok for interrogation but officials denied media reports that he was captured inside Cambodia and handed over to Thailand.
