439
Thai security forces have upped alertness levels in the country’s international airports and rail system over what local police is saying is an Israeli warning against new terror attacks, the Bangkok Post reported on Friday.
According to the report, Chief of Royal Thai Police Priewpan Damapong told the Transport Ministry on Thursday to place the country’s six international airports on high alert. Alertness levels were raised from the normal 2 to 3.
The Bangkok Post cited a Thai government source as saying that the move followed an advisory issued by Israel to bolster airport security over intelligence reports indicating the possibility of fresh attacks.
In addition, alertness levels were also raised in Bangkok’s subway, elevated rail systems, and rail systems.
Earlier Friday, Thai police said they were searching for two more suspects in a botched terror plot against Israeli diplomats that has been blamed on Iran.
Bangkok police commissioner Lt. Gen. Winai Thongson said one of the two new suspects may have been providing training in the use of explosives to three Iranian men who were detained in Thailand and Malaysia this week.
On Thursday, Thailand indicated Malaysia was set to extradite an Iranian national arrested over suspected links to a attempted bomb attack in Bangkok earlier this week.
The report came after, on Wednesday, Israeli Ambassador to Thailand Itzhak Shoham said the bombs discovered in a Bangkok house after a series of blasts in the Thai capital were similar to those used in attacks on Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia, adding that "we can assume from the other experiences that we were the target."
Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, speaking to the Bangkok Post report on Thursday, said that another Iranian national, who succeeded in fleeing Thailand to Malaysia, will be extradited to Thailand for further investigation.
Four Thai civilians were wounded in Bangkok in a series of blasts that began Tuesday when a cache of explosives ignited at a house, apparently by mistake. One explosion blew off the leg of an Iranian who had fled, carrying what looked like grenades.
The bombs discovered in a Bangkok house after a series of blasts in the Thai capital were similar to those used in attacks on Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia, the Israeli ambassador said Wednesday.