Thailand on the brink of civil war. Red Shirts: fight to the death
Bangkok (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A soldier killed by friendly fire and 19 wounded is the outcome of yesterday's clashes in Bangkok between "red shirts" and the Thai army. Anti-government protesters speak of scenes of "war" and announce that they are "ready to fight to the death." The military defends the use of live bullets to disperse the crowd because "the soldiers and police are human beings and the protesters attacked first."
The violence continues between the "red shirts" - close to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in exile and supported by the opposition party United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) - and Thai army. Yesterday, the capital was the scene of urban warfare, but the fear is that the fighting in recent weeks - despite appeals for calm and harmony of religious leaders - could drag Thailand into a veritable civil war.
Local sources said that the crisis has increased the gap between rural peasants and the middle class and ruling class, concentrated in the capital. Thais rarely "were so divided" and "anger is rising on both fronts." In an effort to contain a wildfire spread of protest, since last night, safety officials have ordered police to close all roads into the area occupied by anti-government protesters in the financial heart of the capital.
Meanwhile the the toll of dead and wounded is increasing. Since the beginning of the events - in mid-March - 27 people have been killed, over 900 injured. The latest victim, a Thai soldier was killed yesterday by "friendly fire". He was Pvt Narongrit Sala and belonged to an army corps based in Kanchanaburi. The soldier was accidentally killed by a gunshot to the head, fired by a fellow soldier. In the fighting two other soldiers and 17 demonstrators were injured.
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10/05/2011
