Gunman dies at Estonian defence ministry in Tallinn

A gunman has died after taking hostages at Estonia's defence ministry in Tallinn, reports say.



Police arrived at the ministry after shots or small explosions were heard at about 15:30 (12:30 GMT).



The building was evacuated and police cordoned off the area.



It is not clear whether the gunman killed himself or was shot dead by police in an operation to free hostages, state broadcaster ERR reported. No other casualties have been reported.

Armed police outside the defence ministry in Tallinn, Estonia, 11 August 2011 It remains unclear whether the gunman shot himself or was killed by police



A former Estonian soldier had detonated an explosive device and fired a shot before taking a security guard hostage, a ministry official told ERR.



Other ministry employees jumped out of windows to flee the scene, before armed police wearing body armour entered the building, TV images showed.



Defence Minister Mart Laar was not thought to be in the ministry at the time of the hostage-taking.

Fighting eases on Thai-Cambodian border

Cambodian and Thai soldiers have been exchanging artillery shells along their disputed jungle frontier since April 22 (AFP)

Sunday, May 01, 2011
AFP

BANGKOK — Fighting appeared to subside on the Thai-Cambodian border on Sunday, allowing some evacuees to return home after more than a week of heavy clashes which left 17 people dead, officials said.

There were some clashes overnight Saturday-Sunday involving grenades and mortar fire, in which one Cambodian soldier died, but the front line has been quiet since then, Cambodian defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat told AFP.

The two neighbours have been exchanging artillery shells along their disputed jungle frontier in their bloodiest conflict in decades, forcing more than 85,000 civilians to flee on both sides.

As a tentative calm returned to the border area, some of the more than 37,000 Cambodian civilians displaced by the violence were starting to go home.

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