17 August 2015
Bomb at Erawan shrine
A blast at the Erawan shrine was the deadliest attack Bangkok has ever witnessed and put the spotlight on Uighur-related issues.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 20 people, including 12 foreigners, and left more than 120 people injured. The next day another bomb went off at Sathon pier, but no one was injured. Authorities released footage from CCTV cameras which showed a clear picture of events leading up to the blast. The public became familiar with an image of a man in a yellow T-shirt wearing a backpack which was left behind on a seat at the shrine shortly before the bomb went off.
A high point came almost two weeks later when authorities raided Pool Anant apartment in Bangkok’s Nong Chok district and Maimuna Garden Home apartment in Min Buri.
In the raid, Adem Karadag, also known as Bilal Turk, was detained and bomb-making materials seized. A Thai woman, Wanna Suansan, was identified as the person who rented the room on behalf of Karadag and other foreign nationals.
Another major break came when a second suspect, Yusufu Mieraili, a 25-year-old Chinese national, was detained in Sa Kaeo province on September 1. Mieraili told police that Abudureheman Abudusataer, also known as Ishan, who had fled the country before the bomb went off, was the mastermind. Ishan allegedly instructed Mieraili to hand over the rucksack containing the bomb to the man in the yellow T-shirt.
Police said Karadag later admitted he was the man they were looking for. He implicated another man, Abdullah Abdulrahman, who was his broker and arranged his entry to the country.
With statements from the suspects and an expanded investigation, authorities eventually sought warrants for the arrest of 17 people in connection with the shrine blast. Of all suspects facing warrants, only two were imprisoned—Mieraili, who allegedly purchased bomb-making materials and assembled the bomb, and Karadag, who allegedly planted the device.
17 August 2015
Bomb at Erawan shrine
A blast at the Erawan shrine was the deadliest attack Bangkok has ever witnessed and put the spotlight on Uighur-related issues.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 20 people, including 12 foreigners, and left more than 120 people injured. The next day another bomb went off at Sathon pier, but no one was injured. Authorities released footage from CCTV cameras which showed a clear picture of events leading up to the blast. The public became familiar with an image of a man in a yellow T-shirt wearing a backpack which was left behind on a seat at the shrine shortly before the bomb went off.
A high point came almost two weeks later when authorities raided Pool Anant apartment in Bangkok’s Nong Chok district and Maimuna Garden Home apartment in Min Buri.
In the raid, Adem Karadag, also known as Bilal Turk, was detained and bomb-making materials seized. A Thai woman, Wanna Suansan, was identified as the person who rented the room on behalf of Karadag and other foreign nationals.
Another major break came when a second suspect, Yusufu Mieraili, a 25-year-old Chinese national, was detained in Sa Kaeo province on September 1. Mieraili told police that Abudureheman Abudusataer, also known as Ishan, who had fled the country before the bomb went off, was the mastermind. Ishan allegedly instructed Mieraili to hand over the rucksack containing the bomb to the man in the yellow T-shirt.
Police said Karadag later admitted he was the man they were looking for. He implicated another man, Abdullah Abdulrahman, who was his broker and arranged his entry to the country.
With statements from the suspects and an expanded investigation, authorities eventually sought warrants for the arrest of 17 people in connection with the shrine blast. Of all suspects facing warrants, only two were imprisoned—Mieraili, who allegedly purchased bomb-making materials and assembled the bomb, and Karadag, who allegedly planted the device.