The arrest of a Lebanese man in Bangkok last week thwarted a Mumbai-style terrorist attack in Bangkok’s tourism epicenter, an Israeli open-source military intelligence website reported.
After his arrest on Friday, 47-year-old Artis Hussein led police on Monday to a shophouse in Samut Sakhon province where they found 4,300 kg of fertilizer and other materials for making bombs.
Over 200 police raided the shophouse outside Bangkok after Hussein confessed that bomb-making materials where hidden there, although police said that the materials were to be shipped outside of Thailand.
However, DEBKAfile claims that Hussein was an operative for Hezbollah – a Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim militant group – planning to attack the Chabad Jewish center in Bangkok along with restaurants frequented by Israeli and American tourists.
The attacks allegedly were to have “followed the same lines” as al Qaeda’s bloody assault on Mumbai, India in 2008 in which 164 people were killed during a three-day shooting, bombing and hostage taking spree. One location attacked was the Nariman House, the Mumbai Chabad house, where at least six hostages were eventually murdered.
Citing “counter-terror sources”, DEBKAFILE claims that “two or possibly three Hezbollah cells were to have gone into coordinated action in Bangkok on the same date this month.”
One team was planning to take hostages and “blow up” the Chabad Bangkok, which serves as a Jewish outreach center and hostel, while another was to attack restaurants in the Khao San area.
The Chabad Bangkok, in addition to serving as a Jewish outreach center, also serves as a hostel.
The website also reports that this is the first time Western and Israeli agencies have found evidence of Hezbollah training operatives in the same methods as al Qaeda.
National Security Council secretary-general Wichean Potephosree yesterday said that he is unsure whether Atris was actually involved in planning terrorist attacks and has urged caution in handling the case. The suspect claimed the chemicals were to be sent to the Middle East and Africa for medical use, the Bangkok Post reported.
However DEBKAfile paints a much different, and far more sinister picture:
He [Atris] first denied association with Hezbollah, claiming he was on holiday. Sunday [January 15], he broke down under interrogation and admitted he was on a mission to attack Jewish, Israeli and American sites and that explosive materials had been prepared in advance by another Hezbollah team, which had pinpointed the targets and was to have briefed the perpetrators.
Thai authorities believe that each team was made up of two or three members, all carrying European or Persian Gulf emirate passports.
Lebanese nationals living in Bangkok are alleged to have tipped off officials after being approached for assistance in the attack, the website claims, adding that the informants did not trust the local authorities to act on the information and thus went directly to Western and Israeli contacts.
The website also stated that sources “familiar with the investigation” report that a major manhunt in Thailand, Europe and the Middle East is underway for Hussein’s associates.
The advance team members are said to have left by plane from either Bangkok or Laos, while others are believed to be hiding in Thailand “waiting for another chance to strike”, DEBKAfile claimed.
So far, police have charged Mr Atris with possession of prohibited substances in violation of the Arms Control Act. No other arrests have been made in the case.
DEBKAfile is considered a right-wing Israeli media outlet often taking a hawkish political stance. However, it has been awarded a Forbes Best of The Web award, citing its best attribute as “The Archives” and it’s worst as most information being attributed to unidentified sources.
