Grenades fired at Bangkok army base; two hurt (Extra)

Mar 15, 2010, 10:22 GMT

Bangkok - Unknown assailants fired six grenades Monday at an army base in Bangkok, injuring two soldiers and heightening tensions in the capital, where tens of thousands of rural protestors have converged.

Men in a pickup used a grenade launcher to fire the M-79 grenades at the front gates of the 1st Infantry Regiment compound on Vibhabadi Road, injuring two soldiers on guard duty, army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.

Two of the six rounds failed to explode, he said.

The attack occurred about 1:30 pm (0830 GMT), coinciding with a mass demonstration outside another army base, the 11th Infantry Regiment compound in Bangkok, where the government had set up a peacekeeping command.

More than 20,000 protestors of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship called on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign, dissolve parliament and call for new elections by mid-day Monday.

Abhisit refused the ultimatum. Organizers threatened to collect blood donations from about 100,000 followers and pour it out at the government's main administrative office complex on Tuesday.

It was not clear whether the attack on the 1st Infantry Regiment was related to the protest, which has raised fears of a military coup, always a possibility in Thailand during times of political conflict.

On Saturday, a factory manufacturing illicit M-79 grenade launchers was raided in Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok.

An investigation is under way as to who owned the factory and whether it was connected to military personnel.