BANGKOK, Aug 23: Thai officials have detained six Muslim men, including five foreigners, in the north of the country and suspect they may be members of a radical group, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Saturday.

Thaksin said on radio the six men — three Pakistanis, two Myanmar nationals and a Thai — were arrested on Friday at a house owned by the Thai in northern Chiangmai province. They were initially held on immigration violation charges.

“The group’s behaviour suggests they could be linked to some terrorist group. We are holding them now for immigration violation and we are further investigating to determine whether they are actually terrorists,” the prime minister said.

“I would like to assure people that government officials are fully alert. I have asked the immigration to be more stringent in carrying out their job. It sometimes might have been rather relaxed but is now much more active,” he said.

Thailand enacted its first anti-terrorism law this month. The passage of the law coincided with the arrest in Thailand of Hambali, a top leader of the Jemaah Islamiah, a regional militant group linked to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.

Thaksin said on Friday Jemaah may have been planning attacks on US and Israeli targets in Thailand. He did not give more details.

Thailand has tightened security since Hambali, the suspected mastermind of last year’s Bali bombings, was captured in the ancient capital of Ayutthaya in a joint Thai-US operation.

A Thai police source said on Friday the locations of the US, British and Australian embassies in Bangkok were marked on maps found in Hambali’s apartment after his arrest.

Thai officials are hunting for Hambali’s accomplices who could still be in hiding.—Reuters