MANAMA, (Reuters) – Bahraini forces backed by helicopters launched a crackdown on protesters today, imposing a curfew and clearing hundreds from a camp that had become the symbol of an uprising by the Shi’ite Muslim majority.
Hospital sources said three policemen and three protesters were killed in the assault that began a day after Bahrain declared martial law to quell sectarian unrest that has sucked in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbour Saudi Arabia.
A member of parliament from the largest Shi’ite Muslim opposition group denounced the government assault as a declaration of war on the Shi’ite community.
“This is war of annihilation. This does not happen even in wars and this is not acceptable,” Abdel Jalil Khalil, the head of Wefaq’s 18-member parliament bloc, said.
“I saw them fire live rounds, in front of my own eyes.”
A protest called by the youth movement, which had been leading protests at the Pearl roundabout, failed to materialise after the military banned all marches and gatherings and imposed a curfew from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. across a large swathe of Manama.
A Reuters witness saw Bahraini tanks move in the direction of Budaya Street, where the protest was set to take place.
The United States, a close ally of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, has called for restraint in the island kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet. It sent U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman to Bahrain to push for talks to resolve the crisis.
Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi’ites and they complain of discrimination at the hands of the Sunni royal family, the al-Khalifa. Most Shi’ites want a constitutional monarchy but calls by some hardliners for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed the Sunni minority, which fears that unrest could serve non-Arab Shi’ite power Iran.
Gulf Arab ruling families are Sunni and analysts say the intervention of their forces in Bahrain might provoke a response from Iran, which supports Shi’ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Bahrain’s crackdown was “unjustifiable and irreparable”.
“Today, we witness the degree of pressure imposed on the majority of people in Bahrain,” he said according to state TV.
“What has happened is bad, unjustifiable and irreparable.”
Helicopters flew overhead and riot police fired teargas as they advanced from about 7 a.m. on the Pearl roundabout, focal point of weeks of protests. Youths hurled petrol bombs at police near the roundabout and scattered as new rounds of teargas hit.
The area was cleared within about two hours but protesters knocked down two police in their cars as they fled.
Wearing semi-automatic rifles and black face masks, Bahraini troops also blocked off several streets including the main road to the Shi’ite area of Sitra. Tanks guarded key intersections and the entrances to some areas. Streets were deserted, shops were closed and people queued at cash machines.
“There are shots near and far. It’s not only shooting in the air, it’s urban warfare,” said a resident who lives near the Budaya Highway in the northwest of Bahrain, adding that forces had cut off three bridges linking Bahrain’s airport, on Muharraq island, to the main island.
