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., which was voted down in November.
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.
Operation Valentine
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