Thai police issue arrest warrant for Pakistani over Bangkok blast

Thai police on Thursday obtained an arrest warrant for a Pakistani man in connection with last month’s deadly bombing in Bangkok that the authorities blame on a people-smuggling gang that moves ethnic Uygurs out of China.

Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the warrant for Abdul Tawab cites charges of conspiracy to possess unauthorised explosives and conspiracy to possess unauthorised war materials. The warrant was based partly on testimony that he had frequented an apartment where police found bomb-making materials and arrested another suspect.

Tawab is the first Pakistani suspect wanted in connection with the August 17 bombing that killed 20 people. Twelve previous warrants seek the arrests of a Thai woman and 11 men who are believed to be Turkish or Chinese, or whose nationalities are unknown. Two men have been arrested so far.

Police say the motive for the bombing at the Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok’s Rajprasong intersection was revenge for Thai authorities having interfered in their smuggling business, though they have not detailed how. They insist the perpetrators are part of a criminal network, and did not have political motives.

There has been speculation that the attack might have been done to punish Thailand for forcibly repatriating more than 100 Uygurs to China in July. Uygurs allege they are oppressed under Chinese rule, and a small and sometimes violent separatist movement is active. Uygurs are Muslims, and there are also fears that some Uygurs have allied themselves with international jihadist groups.

Thai officials insist the attack was unrelated to any kind of political terrorism, and only on Wednesday did police even publicly acknowledge that the alleged people-smuggling ring moved Uygurs from China to Turkey, where they have linguistic and ethnic links. The identification of previous suspects as being from Xinjiang, the west China home of the Uygurs, and from Turkey seemed to support a link to the Uygur political cause, but the naming of a Pakistani suspect bolsters the police theory that the case involves a multinational smuggling gang.