Bahrain authorities launch surprise attack on protesters

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http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2011-02/59490896.jpg Anti-government protesters wave flags Wednesday evening in a demonstration in Manama, Bahrain. (Hasan Jamali / Associated Press)

Security forces in tiny but strategic Bahrain launched a brutal assault early Thursday against at least 1,000 defiant anti-government protesters, including women and children, camped out in tents in the capital’s Pearl Square.
A barrage of tear gas canisters thundered across the square about 3 a.m. as dozens of police cars, armored security vehicles and ambulances converged on a makeshift tent city in the center of Manama that was beginning to resemble a smaller version of Tahrir Square in Cairo, where Egyptian protesters this month were successful in overthrowing their president.

Most of the protesters in Pearl Square were asleep when the assault began, witnesses said, noting that no steps had been taken to guard the area against the security forces, even though two people had been killed in earlier clashes with them.

latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-middle-east-protests-20110217,0,6035109.story

Bahrain is an oil rich group of small islands off of the coast of Saudi Arabia. Most of the people are Shiite Muslims, the rulers are Sunni Muslims.


maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bahrain+map&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=31.646818,56.162109&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bahrain&z=9
 
I Pray For Everybody Involved In This. I’ve got a BAD Feeling About These Protests Springing Up All Over the Middle East. God Save Us.

Through The Prayers Of The Mother Of God, Have Mercy On Us And Save Us. Amen.
 
To quote someone else on the forum, all people crave freedom.

We all have the God given, unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That is what is causing the protests.

What happens after the uprisings are what is frightening.
 
👍👍
i do pray for the protesters. they are obviously unhappy and want a chance at a better life.

they are tired of living under the same government for 30 years or more. however, i feel there is something more sinister behind these protests and i am very nervous about what the outcome will be.
 
Here is a video just tweeted… lots of tear gas

Are you sure we are in Bahrain and not Gaza? youtube.com/watch?v=KsG3nTVtIL8

Nic Robertson, CNN tweets:

#Bahrain: 8am, we see Army moving in – convoy of APCs, army trucks rumble in convoy down main highway that goes to Pearl Roundabout
 
From the Guardian

Troops have opened fire on protesters in Manama, killing at least one person, according to reports. The army used teargas and live ammunition in an attempt to expell the crowds, which gathered when hundreds of people marched to Pearl roundabout, prompting the security forces to act.
Hospital officials say at least 20 people have been injured, some seriously, and video footage showed three men in Manama bleeding heavily, apparently having been shot. There have been reports of police preventing ambulances from reaching the injured at the roundabout.
 
As they ran, terror and disbelief flashed across their faces. One man shouted: “They are killing our people! They are killing our people.”
Cowering behind a wall, a woman wept, her body shaking in fear.
But many refused to run, initially at least, determined to defy the violence being visited upon them. Some held their hands in the air and shouted “Peaceful! Peaceful!”.
The shooting resumed. One man crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from his leg; nearby a second was also felled. A scream went up: “live ammunition!”
As security forces then began to fire anti-air craft guns over their heads and the air filled with tear gas, the protesters’ will finally broke.
But even as they fled in headlong panic, a helicopter sprayed gunfire at them and more fell. Paramedics from ambulances that had rushed to the scene darted forward to help the wounded, but they too were shot at. Several were detained and at least one ambulance was impounded.

telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/bahrain/8334771/Bahrain-royal-family-orders-army-to-turn-on-the-people.html
 
Bahrain: Now that the crown prince has ordered troops off the streets, thousands of protesters have retaken Pearl Square, which is where demonstrations in the country kicked off, AP is reporting.

Demonstrators carrying Bahraini flags, flowers and signs that said “Peaceful, peaceful” marched into the square chanting “We are victorious” as armoured vehicles and riot police withdrew.
 
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