Troops fire on Bangkok protestors

Dozens of people were hurt when Thai troops opened fire on anti-government protesters in Bangkok today.

Dozens of people were hurt when Thai troops opened fire on anti-government protesters in Bangkok today.

The two sides clashed along a major road connecting the capital with its northern suburbs that security forces had blocked with razor wire.

The Red Shirt protesters, who have paralysed parts of the city with protests for weeks in their campaign to bring down a government they say is illegitimate, had announced that they were widening their demonstrations and dared the military to stop them as hundreds headed on motorbikes and pickup trucks to a planned rally in a suburb.

Along Vibhavadi-Rangsit road, riot squads fired into the air to push protesters back but several tried to remove the razor wire, prompting troops to level their rifles and shoot directly at protesters who fled into oncoming traffic.

Police huddled behind riot shields, while soldiers wielding rifles took up positions behind concrete pylons.

The confrontation was chaotic and at one point security forces fired on a group of troops riding toward them on motorbikes in what appeared to be an accident, although some members of the security forces have been accused of siding with the protesters.

At least four motorbikes crashed and one soldier was carried away on a stretcher, bleeding profusely from the head. Several others from the group threw their hands in the air.

The shootings raised concerns that more violence was to come after government warnings that patience was running out in the seven-week stand-off.

An Army spokesman said that troops were told to use rubber bullets but had authority to use live ammunition for self-defence.

“At this point, there is too much chaos for anybody to constantly report what kind bullets they are using,” he said.

“We brought force out to stop them. At this point, society finds it unacceptable to have protesters travelling in a motorcade like this. We try our best to prevent losses.”

The demonstration appeared intended to provoke the government, which has repeatedly said it will not tolerate protests beyond the Red Shirts’ enclave in the city. It was the first confrontation since five grenades were fired near a gathering of counter-protesters last Thursday, killing one person.

At least 26 people have been killed and nearly 1,000 wounded since protesters began occupying parts of Bangkok in mid-March, barricading major roads with tires and bamboo sticks and forcing the closure of some of the city’s luxury malls and hotels.

The Red Shirts, who are demanding the dissolution of Parliament, said they were sending a team of activists to drum up support at an outdoor market north of the capital.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has repeatedly said he hopes to resolve the conflict peacefully but has yet to outline a clear way out of the crisis after calling off negotiations with the protesters, who are drawn mostly from poor, rural provinces and see the premier as a symbol of an elite impervious to their plight.

Red Shirts have set up barricades on roads leading to the capital in recent days to prevent police reinforcements from being sent to assist in a possible crackdown.

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