CANBERRA, Australia, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- The Australian Federal Police are assisting Thailand in investigating the New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok and a neighboring province.
"The AFP, through its Australia Bomb Data Center and international network, are assisting the Royal Thai police to develop their bomb analysis capacity in the form of the establishment of a Royal Thai Police Bomb Data Center," an AFP spokesman said.
The Australian newspaper Monday said fast-tracking the previously agreed upon center would likely give forensic support to Thai efforts to definitively investigate the New Year's Eve bombings, which the Thai government blames on unidentified supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup last September.
Thirty-eight people were also injured in the eight bombings.
Thai authorities said their investigations would focus on forensic evidence and information gleaned from surveillance tapes at several of the bombing locations.
Australia helped set up a Philippine bomb data facility in late 2005. A similar center is being developed in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, the newspaper report said.
