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A30 world news
Dialuna 19 Juli 2021

Thai police use tear gas against anti-government protesters

(AP) — Thai police used again,” she said of the virus
tear gas, rubber bullets and the protests.
and water cannons Sun-
day to disperse hundreds The protesters started gath-
of anti-government pro- ered at the capital’s Democ-
testers who held a rally in racy Monument in the early
Bangkok despite corona- afternoon, where organizers
virus restrictions banning distributed N95 masks, med-
gatherings of more than ical gloves, sanitizer spray
five people. and raincoats to them before
attempting to go to Govern-
The demonstrators were ment House, which hosts the
demanding Prime Minister prime minister’s offices.
Prayuth Chan-ocha’s gov-
ernment step down, insisting Organizers also handed out
the budget of the monarchy mock corpses in white burial
and the military be cut during shrouds representing CO-
the pandemic, and calling for VID-19 victims, which were
the importing mRNA coro- later placed on the ground
navirus vaccines that have yet atop an image of Prayuth at
to be brought to Thailand on an intersection near Govern-
a large scale to fight a grow- ment House and set alight.
ing surge of the virus. The eerie figures also evoked
images of the bodies of sev-
The rally came as Thailand eral Thai activists who had
recorded its largest single-day havoc across Southeast Asia. apparently been kidnapped in
jump in virus infections — 2019 from where they lived
nearly 11,400 — and as fresh Thailand’s other main vac- in exile in neighboring Laos.
restrictions were announced cine is AstraZeneca, which a
such as the shut down of Thai company owned by the In an effort at avoiding the
most domestic flights. Many country’s king has been pro- spread of infection, many of
parts of the country, includ- ducing, but only since June the protesters drove cars or
ing Bangkok, are already un- and in smaller than expected rode motorbikes, instead of
der some form of lockdown quantities. marching as they had in pre-
that includes restrictions on vious protests.
gatherings and business op- Sunday’s rally was led by
erations as well as a nighttime Free Youth, a student pro- Around 1,500 riot police
curfew. test group that drew tens of were deployed, along with
thousands to its protests last water cannon trucks. Deputy
As infections and deaths year, when it had three main National Police Spokesman
climb and as more people demands: that Prayuth’s gov- Kissana Pattanacharoen ac-
face economic suffering, dis- ernment step down, the con- knowledged that the authori-
approval of the government’s stitution be amended to make ties used water cannons, tear
handling of the pandemic has it more democratic and the gas and rubber bullets to dis-
grown. nation’s monarchy become perse the protesters after sev-
more accountable. eral warnings were given.
Criticism of Prayuth’s gov-
ernment for failing to secure Jutatip Sirikhan, one of Reports of injuries were
early and adequate vaccine Free Youth’s main activists, This weekend daily virus not complete, but the city’s
supplies is widespread. Thai- charged in a phone interview Thailand has recorded a total deaths rose above 100 for the Erawan Medical Center
land mostly relies on two with The Associated Press of 403,386 confirmed COV- first time. emergency services said two
vaccines, including China’s that many people have died ID-19 cases and 3,341 related people were sent to the hos-
Sinovac shot, which some from COVID-19 because of deaths since the pandemic “If we don’t come out now, pital from the protests, which
studies indicate is less effec- the lack of transparency and started. More than 90% of we don’t know how long we the organizers called an end
tive against the delta variant, mismanagement of Prayuth cases and deaths have oc- shall survive and whether we to before nightfall.
which is currently wrecking and his Cabinet. curred since April this year. will have a chance to do it

Militia officials: US drone destroys militia truck in Syria

(AP) — A U.S. drone at- housing U.S. troops. speak to the media. carrying weapons and am- al-Shuhada’s commander
tack targeted a truck for The Iraqi militia officials re- munition for an Iraqi mili- vowed to retaliate and since
an Iran-backed militia in fused to say what the truck There was no immediate tia and was hit shortly after then several rockets attacks
eastern Syria on Sunday, was carrying. They said comment from the U.S. crossing the border from have been reported against
destroying the vehicle the U.S. drone first fired a military. Iraq. It claimed that the bases housing U.S. troops in
without causing any ca- warning shot, after which driver was killed. Syria and Iraq.
sualties, two Iraqi militia the driver jumped out, and Syrian state TV reported the
officials said. a missile hit the vehicle attack saying it was carried On June 27, U.S. Air Force Hundreds of U.S. troops are
shortly afterward. They said out by American drones. It planes carried out airstrikes deployed in eastern Syria as
The attack came amid in- the truck belonged to Kataib said the truck was carrying near the Iraq-Syria border part of the war against the
creasing tensions in the re- Sayyid al-Shuhada, which is food and there were no hu- against what the Pentagon Islamic State group. Thou-
gion between the U.S. mili- active along the Iraq-Syria man losses. said were facilities used by sands of Iran-backed fight-
tary and Iran-backed Iraqi border. Iran-backed militia groups ers are deployed in different
militias in recent weeks. The The Britain-based Syr- to support drone strikes in- parts of Syria to help Presi-
Americans have targeted The officials spoke on con- ian Observatory for Human side Iraq. Four militiamen dent Bashar Assad’s forces
militants who used drones dition of anonymity because Rights, an opposition war were killed. in the 10-year conflict that
and rockets to hit bases they were not authorized to monitor, said the truck was Days later, Kataib Sayyid killed half a million people.