Thai police officer among three killed

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Thai police officer among three killed and dozens wounded as fierce gun battles erupt in Bangkok

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ng-2-dead.html

By Leon Watson

PUBLISHED: 07:57 GMT, 18 February 2014 | UPDATED: 10:58 GMT, 18 February 2014

At least three people have died and 57 others have been wounded as hundreds of riot police tried to clear out anti-government protest camps around the Thai capital Bangkok.

Gunshots were heard at midday at a spot near the prime minister's office where riot police had started to remove protesters and dismantle a makeshift stage, but it wasn't clear who was firing.

Erawan emergency medical services said a 52-year-old male civilian was killed by a wound to his head and a police officer died from a wound to his chest. It also said another man died, but didn't have further details. Nearly 60 others were injured in the incident.

It was not immediately known if the injured were protesters or police.

Warning: Graphic Photos





Department of Special Investigation chief Tharit Pengdit said at a televised press conference that the protesters had launched grenades at police.

The violence erupted after police moved into several locations around the city to detain and remove protesters who have been camped out for weeks to press for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's resignation.

They have blocked access to government offices since late last year and occupied key intersections around Bangkok for about a month. Until now, the police had refrained from dispersing them for fear of unleashing violence.

But on Monday, the government's special security command center announced it would reclaim five protest sites around the city for public use, a move made possible under a state of emergency declared in January.







Thousands of police officers, including armed anti-riot squads, were deployed across the city in an operation the government called 'Peace for Bangkok.'

Earlier Tuesday, 144 protesters gathered near the Energy Ministry in the northern part of the city were peacefully detained and herded onto police trucks to be taken away for questioning, Tharit said.

The operations came a day before the Civil Court hands down a ruling on the caretaker government's invocation of the emergency decree, which allows authorities to exercise wide powers to detain protesters and hold them in custody for 30 days without charges.




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