US-backed Bahraini forces attack mourners in Diraz

US and Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have attacked anti-regime protesters in the city of Diraz during a funeral procession for a 16-year-old boy killed earlier by regime forces, Press TV reports.

Clashes broke out between protesters and security forces in Diraz, which is located northwest of the capital Manama, on Friday shortly after the funeral procession for 16-year-old Ahmed Jaber al-Qattan who was shot in the chest at close range in the village of Abu Saiba near the capital on Thursday.

Several people were wounded and a number of protesters were arrested during the Friday crackdown on the thousands of mourners who were marching on the city’s main Budiya Highway.

Qattan’s death sparked numerous protests across Bahrain, all of which were systemically suppressed by Saudi-backed security forces.

“The martyrdom of young Jaber falls under the systematic oppression of those demanding democracy in Bahrain,” the country’s largest opposition bloc, al-Wefaq, said in a statement on Friday.

In August, regime forces killed 14-year-old Ali Jawad by shooting a tear gas canister at his head during a protest held following Eid al-Fitr prayers in the city of Sitra.

Since mid-February, thousands of anti-government protesters have been staging regular demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling on the US-backed Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.

On March 14, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates arrived in Bahrain to assist the rulers of the sheikdom in their suppression of the anti-government protests.

According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds have been systematically arrested in tiny Persian Gulf country.