BANGKOK: Five Thai students arrested in Pakistan for trying to smuggle a pistol and ammunition aboard a flight to Bangkok are suspected of having links to local insurgents and the Islamic State (IS) terror group, media reported on Friday.
A 9mm pistol, bullets and magazines were found separately in their baggage during a security X-ray on Monday night as they were about to board a Thai Airways International flight back to Thailand, The Bangkok Post reported.
According to intelligence sources, Thai security officials are questioning the families of the young men.
However, Deputy government spokesman Major General Sansern Kaewkamnerd initially said that security agencies found the students had no connection with the local insurgents or the IS.
According to the Thai foreign ministry, the students are being held in Lahore.