Police open fire at Thai Muslim protest

[Aidoneus]

Police open fire at Thai Muslim protest
Monday 25 October 2004

Up to five people have died and at least 20 injured after security forces in southern Thailand fired shots in the air and used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protestors.

The protest to demand the release of six detained security guards turned violent earlier on Monday, with demonstrators hurling rocks at a police station in southern Narathiwat province's Takbai district and overturning a military truck.

The protestors then tried to storm the building and a nearby district office.

Police and soldiers responded by firing water cannons and tear gas, while shooting in the air to scatter the crowd.

A police officer said on condition of anonymity that at least four people were killed in the violence.

Earlier, an official at Takbai district hospital said on condition of anonymity that at least one man had died and another 20 people had been treated for injuries suffered during the six- hour melee. Among the injured was a 10-year-old boy.

At nearby Sungai Kolok hospital, two protesters were treated, including one man who had been grazed by a bullet, said an emergency room official, who also asked not to be identified.
Further details weren't immediately available.

Vichai Vesetrat, a prominent Muslim leader in Narathiwat, said several people had told him that at least five people were killed and that he believed the death toll could rise.

Meanwhile, the regional army commander, Lt. Gen. Pisarm Wattanawongkhiri, declared a curfew in the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat from 10 p.m. (1500 GMT) to 6 a.m. Tuesday (2300 GMT). "The curfew is effective immediately," he said.

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http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8E42B680-E7BF-4CDE-B3FD-C819476413F0.htm