Moscow’s top intelligence agency has warned that 10 Syrians linked to the Islamic State group have entered Thailand to target Russians, the kingdom’s police said yesterday.
A leaked letter, marked “top secret” and “urgent,” and signed by the deputy head of Thailand’s special branch, was widely circulated in Thai media late on Thursday.
It said Moscow’s Federal Security Service (FSB) had told Thai police that the group of Syrians entered the nation between Oct. 15 and Oct. 31 potentially to target Russian interests.
Photo: Reuters
“They [the Syrians] traveled separately. Four went to Pattaya, two to Phuket, two to Bangkok and the other two to [an] unknown location,” the letter said, citing information from the FSB.
“Their purpose is to create bad incidents to affect Russians and Russia’s alliance with Thailand,” the letter said, without naming the suspects.
More than 1.6 million Russian tourists visited Thailand last year, the largest number from European nations. Arrivals from Russia spike during the Christmas and New Year holiday season.
The Russian embassy in Bangkok would not immediately comment on the letter, but Thai National Police Chief Jakthip Chaijinda told reporters the “document was real.”
Since the middle of October more than 200 Syrians have entered Thailand.
“Twenty remain here,” Jakthip said, adding that he did not know if the 10 people referenced in the letter were counted among the 200 who have entered this autumn.
Police spokesman Krissana Phattanacharoen confirmed “the content of [the] letter is genuine,” but played down a specific threat to the nation.
“Yes it’s a threat, not only to my country, but also to other countries as well,” he added, referring to the potential danger posed by the Islamic State group.
Thailand is in its peak holiday season, during which international arrivals surge, bringing huge sums of money to the economy.
Confirmation that members of Islamic State have entered the nation would likely send jitters through the tourist industry, especially in busy resort areas such as Phuket and Pattaya — both popular with Russians.
Pattaya police urged tourists not to be alarmed by the reports, although they said security would be beefed up.
Russia launched air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria in September. A month later, a Russian passenger plane was downed by a bomb over the Sinai desert in Egypt killing 224 people, mainly Russian holidaymakers.
Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the bombing, as well as the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.
The brazen attacks have further raised global alarm over the possibility of assaults by Islamic State gunmen and bombers. Thailand was hit by a bomb in August that left 20 people dead at a shrine in downtown Bangkok, rattling the tourist industry.
Mystery still shrouds the motive for that unclaimed attack, but two men from China’s Uighur minority have been charged over the blast. That has heightened speculation of a link with supporters of the Uighurs, who say they face Chinese persecution. Thailand deported 109 Uighurs to China just weeks before the bombing.
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