Saudi Regime Forces Shell Civilians in Awamiyah

Twitter activists quoted local sources as saying that the Wednesday clashes in Awamiyah region have left 7 people, including 2 policemen, dead and several others wounded.

Following the clashes, the Saudi army targeted residential areas in Awamiyah with several rounds of artillery and mortar shelling.

According to the sources, the Saudi forces have called on residents in Awamiyah to leave the region or face death.

The social media activists also reported that the people in Awamiyah have no access to mobile or landline and internet, adding that the Saudi army does not even allow transfer of the wounded to the hospital.

Saudi Arabia has put a travel ban on media activists to visit the Eastern parts of the country.

In recent months, Qatif province in Eastern Saudi Arabia has seen a hike in tensions, with Saudi regime forces, equipped with artillery and heavy weapons, launching frequent attacks against the besieged town of Awamiyah to quell the protests under the pretext of clashing with “militants” there.

The protesters in Awamiyah are angry at a plan by the regime to destroy the al-Mosara neighborhood, the old quarter of the town, and turn it into a commercial zone in defiance of warnings both by locals and the United Nations.

Some seven people have been killed by the Saudi military in the town over the past days.