Updated on
Summary
Sixteen people were killed following violent clashes between troops and anti-government protesters in Thailand's capital city, Bangkok. Three foreigners were among the more than 125 people injured, emergency services have said. A French news channel has said one of its cameramen, Nelson Rand of Canada, was gravely wounded while covering the unrest. The other injured foreigners were from Burma and Poland. The country's defence minister said that the military operation was aimed at pressuring the leaders of the Red Shirts to return to negotiations. He said troops sealed off all routes leading to the Red Shirts rally site at the Ratchaprasong intersection, in the retail heart of Bangkok, and cleared protesters from another area of the city. Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra called on the countrys government to pull back troops and restart negotiations with his Red Shirt supporters. Police fired tear gas at protesters as troops advanced on the Red Shirts' main camp. Dozens of Red Shirts set up the checkpoint in an attempt to stop soldiers from approaching their main camp in central Bangkok. The shooting coincided with a government effort to seal off the protest site by cutting power and blocking roads. As part of the operation the army warned it would deploy snipers. The fresh violence came after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva shelved plans to hold early elections in November because the protesters refused to disperse.
