Public urged to return army weapons seized during clashes

BANGKOK, April 14 (TNA) — Citizens holding army weapons taken from troops or abandoned during last weekend’s clashes between government security forces and anti-government protesters are urged to return them to the authorities or police, an army spokesman said Wednesday.

Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, speaking for the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), told a press conference a number of weapons used by security forces during the clashes were missing while a certain amount of them was seized by the protesters, said Col Sansern.

Army officials are now conducting inventories of missing weapons and will then report the loss to police.

Those who now possess the weapons should return them because such possession is illegal, he said. The army is concerned that the weapons could be used by ill-intentioned people later for actions which could be mistakenly credited to the army.

The agency had ordered officials to provide adequate security for the public and protesters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) now rallying to oust the coalition government, said the spokesman.

Asked whether martial law should be imposed as suggested by the New Politics Party, Col Sansern said it is “still unnecessary as society still has confidence in the government.” (TNA)