Awaz Apni :One dead as Thai troops clash with protesters on highway

BANGKOK: Thai troops opened fire on Red Shirt protesters Wednesday during a tense confrontation on a highway in Bangkok''s northern suburbs that left one soldier dead and 18 people injured. The army said it had used real bullets in the latest standoff in the capital, where 27 people have died and almost 1,000 have been injured this month in the worst political unrest in almost two decades. Protesters hurled rocks at soldiers and riot police who used razor wire to block their convoy on a major road heading out of the city, where they have been rallying for weeks in a bid to overthrow the government. Troops fired into the air and also directly at the Red Shirts as the standoff between the two sides spilled over from the protesters'' fortified rally base in the heart of the capital, which is under a state of emergency. "Real bullets were used because soldiers and police are human and protesters attacked officials first," army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd told a news conference.