Ant-regime protests held across Bahrain

Anti-regime protesters have taken to the streets across Bahrain amid the Al Khalifa regime’s heavy-handed crackdown on dissent.

The protest rallies were held in the northeastern island of Sitra as well as the village of Diraz, as the demonstrators demanded more rights and the fall of the regime.

A similar protest was also staged in the village of Sanabis, situated in the suburbs of the capital, Manama, with protesters denouncing the killing of fellow demonstrator Abdul Aziz al-Abbar, whose body was withheld by authorities after his death.

Abbar, 27, died on April 18, after 55 days in a coma due to injuries he suffered during crackdown on a rally held in late February in Sa’ar, a residential area west of the capital. According to Bahrain’s Center for Human Rights, security forces had fired tear gas canisters and birdshots at Abbar.

Human rights activists have criticized Manama for refusing to disclose the cause of the protester’s death in an attempt to protect his killers.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling on the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.

In March 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to Bahrain to help Manama quash the anti-regime protests.

Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.

In June, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights censured the Manama regime for human rights violations. A total of 46 members of the international body expressed deep concern over the Al Khalifa regime’s crackdown on peaceful protesters.