Bangkok: Protesters in Thailand stormed into the national army headquarters on Friday, breaking into their latest high-profile target in a bid to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The crowd of about 1,200 people broke the padlocked gate at the Royal Thai Army compound and forced their way inside, saying they wanted to submit a letter to the army chief, said army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd.
The compound is next to the United Nation's Asia-Pacific headquarters in Bangkok.
“They are now gathering in the courtyard, but they have not entered buildings,” Sansern said. “We will make them understand that this is a security area and we will ask them to leave.”
Yingluck has been reluctant to use force to evict the opposition-led protesters for fear of escalating a tense political crisis and sparking bloodshed.
Security forces have done little to stop protesters who have spent the week seizing government buildings and camping out at several of them in an effort to force a government shutdown and get civil servants to join their rally.
Crowds of protesters have occupied the Finance Ministry since Monday and others remain holed up at a sprawling government complex that houses the Department of Special Investigations, the country's equivalent of the FBI.
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