Bahrain forces injure over a dozen protesters: al-Wefaq

Bahrain’s main opposition group al-Wefaq says regime forces have injured over a dozen protesters in the past few days as the crackdown on anti-regime protesters and activists continues in the Persian Gulf sheikhdom.

The Bahraini opposition party said that the Manama regime forces raided 216 homes in several villages across Bahrain last week.

According to al-Wefaq, most raids took place after midnight or at dawn and 42 people including two children were also arrested.

On August 7, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa banned protests in the capital, Manama, ahead of the August 14 celebrations of the country’s independence from the United Kingdom.

The opposition is planning to hold a major protest on the same day. The Manama regime has warned that any protests would face the “force of the law.”

Bahrain’s loyalist-dominated parliament has also approved a bill banning all protests in Manama.

Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since mid-February 2011, demanding political reform and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.

Scores have been killed, many of them under torture while in custody, and thousands more detained since the popular uprising in Bahrain began.

Protesters say they will continue holding anti-regime demonstrations until their demand for the establishment of a democratically-elected government and an end to rights violations are met.