Thailand Explosions: Dozens Hurt In Bangkok

Dozens of people have been hurt after two grenade attacks at the site of an anti-government demonstration in Bangkok.

It is the latest violence in a political crisis dividing Thailand as the army urges both sides to settle their differences.

According to witnesses, the explosions in the capital happened two minutes apart, with the first about 100-200 metres from a stage set up by protesters.

The blast left a small crater beside a market stall, while the second was near a row of stalls selling anti-government T-shirts.

At least 28 people were injured, including seven seriously, in the explosions near Victory Monument in the north of the city, medics claimed.

Police said the blasts were caused by fragmentation grenades similar to one that killed a man and wounded dozens of other people on Friday in a similar explosion in Bangkok targeting protesters.

It is the latest in a series of attacks

Then on Saturday night, a gunman opened fire on anti-government protesters in the city's Lad Prao district, where demonstrators have taken over a key road junction.

A 54-year-old volunteer guard was shot in the back and seriously wounded in the attack about 300 metres from a protest stage.

It is still unclear who is behind the violence.

It is the latest episode in an eight-year-old crisis that broadly pits Bangkok's middle class and royalist establishment against poorer, mainly rural supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her self-exiled brother Thaksin.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters at a rally in Bangkok

The demonstrators, who control several small areas of the city, are trying to overthrow her government and derail the upcoming February 2 elections.

​Ms Yingluck's opponents - a minority that can no longer win at the polls - argue the Shinawatras are using their electoral majority to impose their will and stifle democracy.

They accuse former Mr Shinawatra of corruption and nepotism. He has lived abroad since 2008 to avoid a prison sentence after being convicted of corruption.

The crisis boiled over again late last year after the ruling party attempted to push through an amnesty bill that would have allowed him to return from exile.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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