Shots Fired As Protesters Storm Major Airport in Thailand

Hundreds of anti-government protesters stormed Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport terminal on Tuesday night, forcing officials to halt departing flights as demonstrators fought running battles with riot police in the city.

Members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) broke through police lines and began roaming through the sprawling $4-billion US terminal as startled tourists looked on.

Thai anti-government protesters have opened fire on government supporters during clashes in Bangkok which left at least 11 people injured, officials say.

The incident came after the People's Alliance for Democracy blocked the road to the city's old airport in a renewed attempt to unseat the government.

Thousands of Thai protesters besieged the prime minister's temporary offices at an abandoned Bangkok airport Tuesday, on the second day of marches aimed at toppling the elected government.

Yellow-clad demonstrators took trucks, buses and cars to the old Don Mueang international airport -- where premier Somchai Wongsawat set up shop after activists captured the capital's main government offices in August.

The latest show of force came a day after thousands of protesters descended on parliament in what they have called the "final battle" against the administration, forcing lawmakers to postpone a joint session.

"There are more than 10,000 of us here and we are prepared for a long siege like at Government House (in central Bangkok)," said Sawit Kaoewan, a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

The PAD accuses the government elected in December last year of being tainted by corruption and of being a puppet of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.