BANGKOK ��" Thai security forces and anti-government protesters clashed Wednesday on the outskirts of Bangkok, with troops firing both over and directly into a crowd of Red Shirts to keep them from expanding their demonstrations. At least 10 protesters and one soldier were wounded. It was not immediately clear if the troops were shooting live ammunition or rubber bullets in the confrontation along a major road connecting Bangkok with its northern suburbs that security forces had blocked with razor wire. The Red Shirts, who have paralyzed parts of the capital with protests for weeks in their campaign to bring down a government they view as illegitimate, had announced that they were widening their demonstrations and dared the military to stop them as hundreds headed on motorbikes and pickup trucks to a planned rally in a suburb of the capital. Along Vibhavadi-Rangsit road, riot squads fired into the air to push protesters back but several tried to remove the razor wire, prompting troops to level their rifles and shoot directly at protesters who fled into oncoming traffic. Police huddled behind riot shields, while soldiers wielding rifles took up positions behind concrete pylons. The confrontation was chaotic and at one point security forces fired on a group of troops riding toward them on motorbikes in what appeared to be an accident, although some members of the security forces have been accused of siding with the protesters. At least four motorbikes crashed and one soldier was carried away on a stretcher, bleeding profusely from the head. Several others from the group threw their hands in the air. At least 10 protesters wounded in the clash were treated for minor injuries at the nearby Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital, the hospital said. The confrontation ended Wednesday evening and the protesters headed back to their enclave. But the shooting raised concerns that more violence was to come after government warnings that patience was running out in the seven-week standoff. Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said that troops were told to use rubber bullets but had authority to use live ammunition for self-defense. "We brought force out to stop them. At this point, society finds it unacceptable to have protesters traveling in a motorcade like this," Sansern said. "We try our best to prevent losses."
