Bahrainis rally against raid on top cleric’s home

Bahrainis have held a protest rally near the capital Manama to reaffirm their support for the top Muslim cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Ahmed Qassim.

The demonstration was held in the village of Diraz, west of Manama, on Friday, hours after the Bahraini regime forces stormed the cleric’s house.

Witnesses said the regime forces broke the doors of Sheikh Qassim’s house in Diraz and damaged his property.

According to Bahrain’s main opposition bloc, al-Wefaq, the cleric was not at home at the time of the raid, but his family members were present. The troops left after searching the house while police helicopters were hovering above for hours.

“Dozens of armed troops, accompanied by masked civilian forces, stormed the home of Ayatollah Isa Qassim at dawn on Friday … damaging property and terrorizing women and children,” al-Wefaq said in its statement.

Sheikh Qassim has repeatedly criticized Manama over its violent crackdown on protests.

Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has been the scene of anti-regime protests since February 2011. Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more injured in the regime crackdown.

The protesters, however, say they will continue holding demonstrations against the Al Khalifa regime until their demands for the establishment of a democratically-elected government and an end to rights violations are met.