Thailand said Thursday global terror groups were likely not behind a deadly Bangkok shrine bombing, but appealed for Interpol help in hunting a foreign man accused of being the prime suspect.
The police said in a statement that the bomb was probably “the work of at least 10 people and at least one month’s planning, with Thai people involved”.
The deadly Bangkok bomb took over one month to plan and was executed by more than 10 people, the kingdom’s police chief said Thursday, as more details emerged of the suspected network behind an attack that killed 20 people.
Thai National Police Chief Somyot Poompanmoung said Wednesday the suspected bomber was likely acting as part of a network, but investigators have not yet established his motives or nationality.
Thai police on Wednesday said they called in two or three people – mostly foreigners – for questioning as they search for the suspect, according to the AP. The central Bangkok shrine reopened Wednesday to the public after Monday’s bomb blast as authorities…
Police are now searching for a “foreign” man who was seen on CCTV footage leaving his backpack behind at the site of the explosion just minutes before it occurred.
But Army chief Udomdej Sitabutr said on television Wednesday that the attack “does not match with incidents in southern Thailand (and) the type of bomb used is also not in keeping with the south”.
Police officials told reporters Thursday that authorities believed those behind the blast must have been planned it in advance, maybe a month ahead of time, and likely included a site inspection team, bomb makers, bombers and an escape team.
The latest explosion happened less than two weeks after deadly blasts at a chemical storage facility rocked the port city of Tianjin, killing more than 123 people, including firefighters, and injuring hundreds more.