In an offensive dubbed "Operation Valentine," thousands of Thai riot police stormed the country's capital city to remove anti-government protesters from sites they've occupied for up to several months.
Some 5,000 police officers participated in the operation on Friday, retaking the areas surrounding the Government House in Bangkok. Law enforcement leaders said they would try to carry out the operation without resorting to violence.
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"Our police are ready to reclaim space and will try to avoid violence," Paradorn Pattanathabutr, chief of the National Security Council, told the International Business Times.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in November to demand the removal of Thailand's Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. The protests, which have been festive at times but also violent, stem from a political amnesty bill proposed by Thai lawmakers in August.
The bill would allow former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's older brother, to return to the country without facing prison time. The military ousted Thaksin for corruption in 2006, at which point he fled the country. Yingluck became Thailand's first female prime minister after winning an election in 2011.
Below is a collection of striking images from Friday's Operation Valentine.
Riot police storm an anti-government protest site near Government House in Bangkok .
An anti-government protestor covers her face with a bandana during a protest near the Government House building in Bangkok on February 14, 2014.
An armed policeman observes the demonstration by anti-government protestors near the Government House building in Bangkok. Thousands of riot police were deployed in the Thai capital to clear areas occupied for weeks by opposition protesters seeking to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office.
An anti-government protesters denounce riot police after they retook a protest site in Bangkok.
A man confronts police officers during an operation to reclaim government offices occupied by anti-government protesters on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand.
An anti-government protestor waves the Thai flag near the Government House building.
A riot policeman removes a woman from her tent as they retake a stretch of a road occupied by anti-government protesters in Bangkok.
A man prays as he and colleagues confront with Thai policemen who start their operation to reclaim government offices occupied by anti-government protesters in Bangkok on Feb. 14, 2014.
Anti-government protesters attempt to hold back riot police trying to retake a protest site in Bangkok, Thailand on Feb. 14, 2014. Riot police cleared anti-government protesters from a major boulevard in the Thai capital in a small victory for authorities as they try to reclaim areas that have been closed during a three-month push to unseat Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
A boy, who came to the rally site with his parents, cries while Thai policemen start their operation to reclaim government offices occupied by anti-government protesters on the outskirts of Bangkok.
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