BANGKOK (AP) — Thai police say an officer has been killed in clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters in the capital.
Police spokesman Anucha Romyana says the officer died Thursday after being airlifted to a hospital.
It’s unclear how the officer died, but police said earlier that an officer had been struck by a bullet during the clashes.
The clashes took place outside a Bangkok sports stadium where candidates were gathering to draw lots for their positions on the ballot ahead of general elections scheduled for Feb. 2.
At least 60 people were injured in the daylong unrest.
The protesters are seeking to topple the government and prevent the elections from taking place as scheduled.
当地时间2013年12月25日，泰国曼谷，反政府示威者试图进入泰日体育场，以阻止人员进入场内进行候选人登记。选举委员会23日晚些时候发 表电视声明，一共34个党派及时登记候选人名单。其中，包括英拉所属为泰党在内的9个党派成功进入泰日体育场、提交了候选人名单。据报道，泰国选举委员会 定于12月23日至27日进行候选人登记。
当地时间2013年12月25日，泰国曼谷，反政府示威者试图进入泰日体育场，以阻止人员进入场内进行候选人登记。选举委员会23日晚些时候发 表电视声明，一共34个党派及时登记候选人名单。其中，包括英拉所属为泰党在内的9个党派成功进入泰日体育场、提交了候选人名单。据报道，泰国选举委员会 定于12月23日至27日进行候选人登记。
曼谷12月26日电 泰陆军副发言人温泰26日称，陆军总司令巴育对当天发生在曼谷泰日体育场，反政府示威者与警察间的冲突事件深表关切，他呼吁所有各方保持克制，因为暴力冲突将使该国国家整体形象受损。
有信息显示，当天泰日体育场之冲突中使用了武器，巴育呼吁当局对此立即展开调查，以尽快查明真相；而在事实真相没有澄清前，各相关部门都不要对此急于作出结论，因为这可能加剧双方间的仇恨和冲突。温泰说，军方敦请所有各方彼此尊重，不要再作任何同胞相残的事情。
据曼谷艾侣湾紧急医疗服务中心提供的最新信息显示，26日发生在曼谷泰日体育场的暴力冲突事件，已造成48名示威者受伤，其中一人被子弹击中头部伤势严重，伤者分别被送往曼谷6家医院接受治疗。他们大多数人是被催泪瓦斯和橡皮子弹所伤。
是次冲突中还造成3名警察受伤。警方发言人皮雅说，示威者向警察投掷燃烧瓶、爆竹，并以自制弹射器向警察发射金属螺母等，冲突中有1名防暴警察被子弹击毙。稍早前有报道称有4名警察在这次冲突中受伤。
26日上午7时30分至11时时段，泰反政府群体“改革泰国学生与民众联盟”的示威者，试图强行冲击下一届国会下议院议员候选人当局场所——泰 日体育场，遭警方强力阻止，警方使用催泪瓦斯及橡皮子弹阻止示威者的冲击，而示威者则以石块、玻璃瓶等予以回击，冲突双方均有人员受伤。
12月23日至27日，泰下一届国会下议院政党名单制议员候选人在泰日体育场登记，23日凌晨开始，反政府群体开始围堵该体育场，阻止各政党前往体育场登记。
Thailand’s election commission urged the government Thursday to postpone February polls after a police officer was killed and dozens of people were wounded in clashes between security forces and opposition protesters in Bangkok.
The violence deepened the crisis facing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose government has been shaken by weeks of mass street rallies seeking to curb her family’s political dominance.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets after demonstrators tried to force their way into a sports stadium in the capital where representatives of about 30 political parties were gathered for the registration process for the February 2 election.
More than 60 people were injured, according to the emergency services. One police officer died of a gunshot wound.
“He was shot in his chest and brought to hospital by helicopter,” said Jongjet Aoajenpong, director of the Police General Hospital. “A team of doctors tried to resuscitate him for more than half an hour.”
As the violence escalated, the Election Commission held a news conference to recommend the February 2 polls be delayed indefinitely.
“We cannot organise free and fair elections under the constitution in the current circumstances,” said commission member Prawit Rattanapien, who along with other vote officials had to be evacuated from the stadium by helicopter.
The main opposition Democrat Party — which has not won an elected majority in about two decades — has vowed to boycott the February election.
There was no immediate response from the government. Under the constitution, an election should normally be held no more than 60 days after the dissolution of parliament, which happened in early December.
Thailand has seen several bouts of political turmoil since Yingluck’s older brother Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted as premier in a military coup in 2006.
His supporters have accused the protesters of trying to incite the military to seize power again, in a country which has seen 18 successful or attempted coups since 1932.
The political conflict broadly pits a Bangkok-based middle class and elite against rural and working-class voters loyal to Thaksin, who lives in self-exile.
The protesters accuse the billionaire tycoon-turned-politician of corruption and say he controls his sister’s government from his base in Dubai.
Those wounded in Thursday’s clashes included one protester who was reported to be in a serious condition with an apparent gunshot wound to his head.
Security forces denied firing live rounds, saying only rubber bullets and tear gas were used against the demonstrators.
“Protesters are not peaceful and unarmed as they claimed,” Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said in a televised address.
“They are intimidating officials and trespassing in government buildings.”
The unrest, which has drawn tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets, has left five people dead and more than 200 wounded.
It is the worst civil strife since 2010, when more than 90 civilians were killed in a bloody military crackdown on opposition protests against the previous government.
The demonstrators have vowed to keep up their campaign to disrupt the polls, with protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban threatening to “shut down the country” to prevent people voting.
A second round of registrations for constituency candidates is due to begin at venues around the country on Saturday.
Yingluck’s Puea Thai party said it planned to field candidates in all constituencies, despite the prospect of further attempts by the opposition to disrupt the process, particularly in its southern strongholds.
“If there is a problem we have to fight,” Puea Thai leader Jarupong Ruangsuwan told AFP.
Thaksin is adored among rural communities and the working class, particularly in the north and northeast. But he is reviled by the elite, the Bangkok middle class and many southerners, who see him as corrupt and a threat to the revered monarchy.
Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election since 2001, most recently with a landslide victory under Yingluck two years ago.
The protesters want loosely-defined reforms — such as an end to alleged “vote buying” — before new elections are held in around a year to 18 months.
Critics argue that the planned changes are only aimed at ending the opposition’s losing streak.
Yingluck on Wednesday proposed a “national reform council” made up of 499 representatives from various sectors to recommend constitutional amendments and economic and legal reforms, as well as anti-corruption measures.
But the protesters quickly rejected the idea, urging her to step down.