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Thailand indicts two people over Bangkok shrine bomb attack

Tuesday, 24 November 2015 6:13 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 24 November 2015 6:13 AM ]

Soldiers secure the cordoned-off site of a bomb blast at the Erawan shrine in the heart of Bangkok’s tourist and commercial center, August 18, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

A military court in Thailand has indicted two men for involvement in a deadly bomb attack at a shrine in the capital, Bangkok, in August.

Thai officials said on Tuesday that the two, identified as Bilal Mohammad and Mieraili Yusufu, were indicted on 10 charges over the bombing at the Erawan Hindu Shrine.

Officials say there was no religious or political motive for the attack and that the bombing was carried out as an act of revenge against Thai authorities, who had broken up a human-smuggling group.

Mieraili Yusufu (C, in yellow T-shirt), is seen during a reenactment with police officers in a Bangkok suburb, September 8, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

The two men have been held at an army base since their arrests following the blast. Cases of national security have been handled at the country’s military court since the Thai army gained power in a coup last May.

At least 20 people, mostly Asian tourists, were killed and 120 others wounded in the bombing attack in downtown Bangkok on August 17. A 27-year-old Chinese national, identified as Abudureheman Abudusataer, was arrested following the bombing and is thought to have masterminded the attack.

A number of other foreign nationals have been detained for suspected involvement in the explosion.

Thailand has been witnessing unrest since its powerful generals took the law into their own hands in the May 2014 coup following the ouster of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government, which had faced months of protests.

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