Thailand’s Interpol director said today there was “no credible” threat of an attack by suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) group following a warning by the Russian intelligence service that 10 Syrians linked to the IS had entered the country.
A document from Thai Special Branch police leaked to social media showed it had been warned by Russia’s Federal Security Service that 10 Syrians linked to the IS had entered Thailand between Oct. 15 and Oct. 31 to target Russian interests.
Confirmation on Friday that the document was real prompted Thailand to step up security around potential targets including the cities of Pattaya and Phuket, home to large Russian communities. Officials have called for calm.
Thailand’s Interpol director, Police Major General Apichart Suribunya, said Interpol and Special Branch were both looking out for intelligence but that there was no credible threat of an attack in Thailand.
“We get warnings like this many times. There is no critical intelligence of IS presence in Thailand,” Apichart said.
“There is no credible threat of an IS attack, not now. From Interpol, there is no critical intelligence and no credible threat of an IS attack in Thailand.”
Thailand said on Sunday it was looking for four Syrian nationals who had overstayed their visas, but did not suggest the men were a security threat.
Police later cleared three of four of any possible links to the IS. They did not comment on a fourth man.
An official at the Russian Embassy in Bangkok was no immediately available for comment.
Russia began air strikes against the IS in Syria at the end of September.
An IS-linked group claimed it brought down a Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula in October, killing all 224 people on board.
In August, 20 people were killed in a bomb attack at a Bangkok shrine.
Police have said the attack was in retaliation for a crackdown on human smuggling gangs earlier this year and said it was not a terrorist attack.
Story and photo: Reuters
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