Red Shirt Street Battle
20 images Created 14 May 2010
The Red Shirt protest in Bangkok erupted into almost uncontrolled violence Friday. Gangs of Red Shirts have taken over military checkpoints on Rama IV and are firing small rockets at military helicopters and army patrols in the area. Troops have responded by firing towards protesters. The military is responding by firing into Red Shirt positions, mostly with rubber bullets but occasionally with live rounds.
This afternoon soldiers and police engaged in a running street battle on Rama IV, a main Bangkok thoroughfare. This time the protesters were not Red Shirts. They were residents of Khlong Toey, a nearby slum. The fired rockets and threw rocks and "ping pong" bombs, small home made explosives about twice the power of a "cherry bomb" at police. They also used slingshots to get extra range.
This afternoon soldiers and police engaged in a running street battle on Rama IV, a main Bangkok thoroughfare. This time the protesters were not Red Shirts. They were residents of Khlong Toey, a nearby slum. The fired rockets and threw rocks and "ping pong" bombs, small home made explosives about twice the power of a "cherry bomb" at police. They also used slingshots to get extra range.
