Thai cops link bombings to Muslim insurgency

BANGKOK: Thai police identified a third suspect wanted in connection with a wave of bombs in tourist towns this month that killed four people and for the first time linked the attacks to Muslim separatists operating in the far south.

Thailand’s tourist industry had been largely spared a spillover of violence from a decades-old insurgency in the far south and authorities had at first dismissed any connection between the Aug 11-12 bombings and the separatists.

But police issuing an arrest warrant for a third suspect yesterday said all three of the people they wanted to question had links to previous attacks blamed on the Muslim insurgents.

“The three suspects for which we have obtained an arrest warrants are known to have ties to other previous attacks in the southern provinces,” deputy national police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said.

Police identified the third suspect as Asamin Katemadi and said he was also wanted in connection with a 2015 bomb attack on the tourist island of Samui.

Four Thai people were killed in the coordinated bomb attacks in various tourist towns south of Bangkok this month and dozens were wounded. — Reuters