BY AMBIKA AHUJA and GRANT PECK
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thai soldiers unleashed hundreds of rounds of automatic-weapons fire to clear rock-throwing antigovernment protesters from a major intersection in the capital in the predawn darkness early today.
Forty-nine people were reported hurt in the first serious clash between the two sides in ongoing protests that have roiled the southeast Asian nation and came a day after the country's ousted prime minister called for a revolution.
While the government has declared a state of emergency, protesters controlled many streets in the capital of Bangkok. They had earlier commandeered public buses and swarmed triumphantly over military vehicles in defiance.
In the starkest example of the chaos, a mob of the red-shirted protesters smashed cars carrying Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his aides.
The clash began between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. today, as troops in full combat gear lined up and advanced to disperse the protesters, television footage showed.
The official Erawan emergency coordination center said 49 people were injured on both sides and taken to hospitals.
Police Gen. Vichai Sangparpai said up to 30,000 demonstrators were scattered around the city. Police vans at some intersections were abandoned and looted.
Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, regarded by most of the protesters as their leader, called for a revolution and said he might return from exile to lead it.
Thaksin fled the country last year, before a court convicted him in absentia of violating a conflict-of-interest law.
Forty-nine people were reported hurt in the first serious clash between the two sides in ongoing protests that have roiled the southeast Asian nation and came a day after the country's ousted prime minister called for a revolution.
While the government has declared a state of emergency, protesters controlled many streets in the capital of Bangkok. They had earlier commandeered public buses and swarmed triumphantly over military vehicles in defiance.
In the starkest example of the chaos, a mob of the red-shirted protesters smashed cars carrying Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his aides.
The clash began between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. today, as troops in full combat gear lined up and advanced to disperse the protesters, television footage showed.
The official Erawan emergency coordination center said 49 people were injured on both sides and taken to hospitals.
Police Gen. Vichai Sangparpai said up to 30,000 demonstrators were scattered around the city. Police vans at some intersections were abandoned and looted.
Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, regarded by most of the protesters as their leader, called for a revolution and said he might return from exile to lead it.
Thaksin fled the country last year, before a court convicted him in absentia of violating a conflict-of-interest law.
2 comments:
To all my brother and sister in YALA! we will continue to fight untill we'all free from Thai Gov't abusive...
Let' my brother and sister go free from Thai gov't abusing, otherwise will fight you untill the last drop of YALA blood...
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