Bahraini forces fire tear gas, stun grenades at protesters

Bahraini security forces have fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrators protesting against the Al Khalifa regime.

Protesters were attacked by regime forces on Tuesday, as they marched from the village of Deih to the former Pearl Square, the site of month-long anti-regime demonstrations that were brutally suppressed by the government last year.

The Bahraini Interior Ministry said on its Twitter page that police confronted a “group of vandals” on the Budaiya artery, after they “blocked the road, hurled petrol bombs, and terrified passers-by.”

A report published by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry in November 2011 found that the Al Khalifa regime had used excessive force in the campaign of suppression and accused Manama of torturing political activists, politicians, and protesters.

The popular uprising began in Bahrain in mid-February 2011. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent security and military forces to the country upon a request from Manama to help the Bahraini government quash the peaceful protests.

Dozens of people have been killed in the crackdown, and the security forces have arrested hundreds including doctors and nurses.

Bahrain hosts the US Fifth Fleet and is among the Persian Gulf countries such as Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates that receive military equipment from the United States.