'Some Thais secretly support IS'

Some Thai nationals are suspected to have secretly supported the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, police said on Tuesday.

Deputy Police chief General Srivarah Rangsipramanakul said the Australian police had alerted the Thai police that a number of Thai nationals had secretly supported the IS, but declined to give names or tell how many people might be so suspected, Xinhua news agency reported.

Srivarah quoted the Australian police as alleging that the pro-IS Thais had visited the terrorist group's website for over 100,000 times so far this year.

Some of the alleged supporters had expressed verbal support while others had visited Syria and donated some money to the terrorist group, the deputy police chief said.

He made no comment on allegations that those unidentified Thais had been involved in bombings and other terrorist acts in southern Thailand earlier this year.

The Special Branch police and provincial police units have been assigned to track down on the unidentified suspected IS supporters, he said.

--IANS

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