(Image source: Bangkok Post)
BY STEVEN SPARKMAN
Thai police have confirmed the bomber who blew his own legs off in Bangkok earlier this week was part of a string of attacks targeting Israeli officials. Here’s CNN.
“Israeli diplomats were the intended targets of a group at the center of a bombing incident at the weekend. That’s according to Thai police officials.”
There was originally some confusion over whether the bombings in Bangkok were tied to those in Georgia and India. The Telegraph explains why the incidents are now being seen as part of the same attack.
“The men were specifically targeting Israel diplomats and planned to plant ‘sticky’ bombs on their vehicles, the same method used in attack on an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi and a foiled plot in Tibilisi on Monday.”
On Thursday, Thai police paraded one Iranian suspect before the press. While the group was originally believed to be a handful of highly-trained professionals, analysts now say the attacks were somewhat crude. (Video source: BBC)
Experts say the bomb which injured a diplomats wife in New Delhi was placed on the wrong side of the car — missing the fuel tank. And the Bangkok bombers were only discovered after they accidentally blew up their own house.
A writer for Haaretz says the rushed nature of the attacks is a troubling sign.
“Such haste is not typical of Tehran's previous decision-making, and it shows that the decision makers are under pressure and liable to be driven more by emotions than by cool calculation.”
The Times of India reported Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency was caught off guard by the attacks. Israel has stepped up security around its embassies, but the paper says this probably isn’t the last we’ll hear about the magnetic bomb.
“While the attack has come as a rude shock to Indian and Israeli agencies, intelligence agencies are fearing that use of magnet or limpet bomb may cease to be an aberration in South Asia.”
Thai police have two suspects in custody, including the man injured by his own bombs. A third suspect was arrested in Malaysia, and the fourth is believed to have fled to Iran.
