Bahrain military uses force on protesters, at least 4 killed
Source: Agencies |
February 18, 2011, Friday
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ARMY patrols and tanks locked down Manama, the capital of Bahrain, after riot police swinging clubs and firing tear gas smashed into demonstrators, many of them sleeping, in a pre-dawn assault yesterday that uprooted their protest camp demanding political change.
Medical officials said four people were killed.
Hours after the attack on Manama's main Pearl Square, the military announced a ban on gatherings, saying on state TV that it had "key parts" of the capital under its control.
Demonstrators had been camping out for days around the square's 90-meter monument featuring a giant pearl, a testament to the island's pearl-diving past.
After several days of holding back, the island nation's Sunni rulers unleashed a heavy crackdown, trying to stamp out the first anti-government upheaval to reach the Arab states of the Gulf since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The move by the Sunni monarchy was to prevent a prolonged wave of protests, led by members of the country's Shiite majority.
Tiny Bahrain is a pillar of Washington's military framework in the region. It hosts the United States Navy's 5th Fleet, which is a critical counterbalance to Iran. Bahrain's rulers and their Arab allies depict any sign of unrest among their Shiite populations as a move by neighboring Shiite-majority Iran to expand its clout in the region.
But the assault may only further inflame protesters. In the wake of the bloodshed, angry demonstrators chanted "the regime must go" and burned pictures of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa outside the emergency ward at Salmaniyah hospital, the main state medical facility.
The hospital was thrown into chaos by a stream of dozens of wounded from Pearl Square with gaping wounds, broken bones and respiratory problems from tear gas.
Men and women lay in shock on stretchers, heads bleeding, arms in casts, faces bruised as they were shuttled around by nurses.
Manama was effectively shut down yesterday. For the first time in the crisis, tanks and military checkpoints were deployed in the streets and army patrols circulated. The Interior Ministry warned Bahrainis to stay off the streets. Banks and other key institutions did not open, and workers stayed home, unable or too afraid to pass through checkpoints to get to their jobs.
Bahrain's parliament - minus opposition lawmakers who are staging a boycott - met in emergency session. A leader of the Shiite opposition Abdul-Jalil Khalil said 18 parliament members also have resigned to protest the killings.
Medical officials said four people were killed.
Hours after the attack on Manama's main Pearl Square, the military announced a ban on gatherings, saying on state TV that it had "key parts" of the capital under its control.
Demonstrators had been camping out for days around the square's 90-meter monument featuring a giant pearl, a testament to the island's pearl-diving past.
After several days of holding back, the island nation's Sunni rulers unleashed a heavy crackdown, trying to stamp out the first anti-government upheaval to reach the Arab states of the Gulf since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The move by the Sunni monarchy was to prevent a prolonged wave of protests, led by members of the country's Shiite majority.
Tiny Bahrain is a pillar of Washington's military framework in the region. It hosts the United States Navy's 5th Fleet, which is a critical counterbalance to Iran. Bahrain's rulers and their Arab allies depict any sign of unrest among their Shiite populations as a move by neighboring Shiite-majority Iran to expand its clout in the region.
But the assault may only further inflame protesters. In the wake of the bloodshed, angry demonstrators chanted "the regime must go" and burned pictures of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa outside the emergency ward at Salmaniyah hospital, the main state medical facility.
The hospital was thrown into chaos by a stream of dozens of wounded from Pearl Square with gaping wounds, broken bones and respiratory problems from tear gas.
Men and women lay in shock on stretchers, heads bleeding, arms in casts, faces bruised as they were shuttled around by nurses.
Manama was effectively shut down yesterday. For the first time in the crisis, tanks and military checkpoints were deployed in the streets and army patrols circulated. The Interior Ministry warned Bahrainis to stay off the streets. Banks and other key institutions did not open, and workers stayed home, unable or too afraid to pass through checkpoints to get to their jobs.
Bahrain's parliament - minus opposition lawmakers who are staging a boycott - met in emergency session. A leader of the Shiite opposition Abdul-Jalil Khalil said 18 parliament members also have resigned to protest the killings.
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