TOKYO – Japan’s foreign ministry on Monday urged its citizens to stay away from religious facilities and crowds in six Southeast Asian countries, warning of a possible attack.
The ministry said it had obtained information that “there are more risks such as suicide bombings”.
The warning applies to Japanese citizens of Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar.
The advice was baffled in several of these nations, who said they were unaware of this threat or details from Japan about the source of their information.
Tanee Sangrat, a spokeswoman for the Thai Foreign Ministry, said Japan had not disclosed the origin of the warning and that the Japanese embassy had no more details than to say it was “not specific to Thailand”.
Thai security agencies have no information of their own about a possible threat, Deputy Police Spokeswoman Kissana Pathanacharoen said.
Similarly, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it was unaware of any information on a high level of threats, while Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah denied that even everything would have been sent no warning to the Japanese citizens.
In the brief advice, Japan urged its citizens to pay close attention to local news and information and to be cautious “for the time being”, but did not give a specific deadline or other details.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry declined to provide the source of the information or say whether it was shared with other countries.
He said the notice had been sent to its embassies in the countries concerned to distribute it to Japanese citizens.