Bahrain Protest Quashed by Violent Gov't Raid

Updated at 12:37 p.m. ET

MANAMA, Bahrain - Troops and tanks locked down the capital of this tiny Gulf kingdom after riot police swinging clubs and firing tear gas smashed into demonstrators, many of them sleeping, in a pre-dawn assault Thursday that uprooted their protest camp demanding political change. Medical officials said four people were killed, but numerous sources are reporting higher fatalites.

Hours after the attack on Manama's main Pearl Square, the military announced a ban on gatherings, saying on state TV that it had "key parts" of the capital under its control.

After several days of holding back, the island nation's Sunni rulers unleashed a heavy crackdown, trying to stamp out the first anti-government upheaval to reach the Arab states of the Gulf since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. In the surprise assault, police tore down protesters' tents, beating men and women inside and blasting some with shotgun sprays of birdshot.

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It was a sign of how deeply the Sunni monarchy — and other Arab regimes in the Gulf — fear the repercussions of a prolonged wave of protests, led by members of the country's Shiite majority but also joined by growing numbers of discontented Sunnis.

Opposition leader Ibrahim Sharif, however, told the BBC that there had been no warning, and that many women and children were among those sleeping around Pearl Monument as the security forces launched their attack at about 3 a.m. local time.

A prominent opposition lawmaker from the Bahraini parliament's minority Shiite bloc told the Reuters news agency, meanwhile, that at least 60 people were missing after the raid in Pearl Square. He said his entire bloc, 17 of 40 parliamentarians, were quitting their jobs in protest.

"All the members are going to resign. The decision is taken," Ibrahim Mattar told Reuters. "We feel there was a decision to hurt people."

A human rights group in Bahrain sent CBS News photos of people apparently injured and killed in the early morning raid. The Bahrain Youth Society For Human Rights (BYSHR) sent pictures of two men, one 52 years old and the other 23, whom the group says were killed in the melee, along with pictures of two young boys injured in the crackdown.

BYSHR sent pictures of a third man, whom the group could not identify, who died after sustaining gruesome head injuries. The images of the alleged 3rd fatality from the crackdown, who appeared to be in his 40s or 50s, were too graphic for reproduction.

Scroll down to see a YouTube video from BYSHR which shows the mayhem as Bahraini security forces shower Pearl Square with tear gas to clear the area.

Tiny Bahrain is a pillar of Washington's military framework in the region. It hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which is a critical counterbalance to Iran. Bahrain's rulers and their Arab allies depict any sign of unrest among their Shiite populations as a move by neighboring Shiite-majority Iran to expand its clout in the region.

Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain Warily Eyes Unrest

But the assault may only further enrage protesters, who before the attack had called for large rallies Friday. In the wake of the bloodshed, angry demonstrators chanted "the regime must go" and burned pictures of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa outside the emergency ward at Salmaniyah hospital, the main state medical facility.

"We are even angrier now. They think they can clamp down on us, but they have made us angrier," Makki Abu Taki, whose son was killed in the assault, shouted in the hospital morgue. "We will take to the streets in larger numbers and honor our martyrs. The time for Al Khalifa has ended."

The Obama administration expressed alarm over the violent crackdown. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Bahrain's foreign minister to register Washington's "deep concern" and urge restraint. Similar criticism came from Britain and the European Union.

Salmaniyah hospital was thrown into chaos by a stream of dozens of wounded from Pearl Square, brought in by ambulances and private cars. At least one of the dead was peppered with bloody holes from pellets fired from police shotguns. Nurses rushed in men and women on stretchers, their heads bleeding, arms in casts, faces bruised. At the entrance, women wrapped in black robes embraced each other and wept.

Police held back Wednesday as tens of thousands of protesters crowded into the seaside square, dominated by a 300-foot monument to Bahrain's history as a pearl diving center.

After the crackdown early Thursday, protesters who were camped in the square overnight described police swarming in through a cloud of eye-stinging tear gas.

YouTube video from BYSHR of the raid on Pearl Square:

The capital Manama was effectively shut down Thursday. For the first time in the crisis, tanks rolled into the streets and military checkpoints were set up as army patrols circulated. The Interior Ministry warned Bahrainis to stay off the streets. Banks and other key institutions did not open, and workers stayed home, unable or to afraid to pass through checkpoints to get to their jobs.

Barbed wire and police cars with flashing blue lights encircled Pearl Square, the site of anti-government rallies since Monday. The square was turned into a field of flattened tents and the strewn belongings of the protesters who had camped there — pieces of clothing and boxes of food.

Banners lay trampled on the ground, littered with broken glass, tear gas canisters and debris. A body covered in a white sheet lay in a pool of blood on the side of a road nearby.

Demonstrators had been camping out for days around the landmark square's 300-foot (90-meter) monument featuring a giant pearl, a testament to the island's pearl-diving past.

The protesters' demands have two main objectives: force the ruling Sunni monarchy to give up its control over top government posts and all critical decisions, and address deep grievances held by the country's majority Shiites who make up 70 percent of Bahrain's 500,000 citizens but claim they face systematic discrimination and poverty and are effectively blocked from key roles in public service and the military.

Shiites have clashed with police before in protests over their complaints. But the growing numbers of Sunnis joining the latest protests have come as a surprise to authorities, said Simon Henderson, a Gulf specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"The Sunnis seem to increasingly dislike what is a very paternalistic government," he said, adding that the crackdown was "symptomatic" of Gulf nations' response to crises. "As far as the Gulf rulers are concerned there's only one proper way with this and that is: be tough and be tough early."

The assault came early Thursday with little warning, demonstrators said. Police surrounded the square and then quickly moved in. Some lined up on a bridge overhead, pumping down volleys of tear gas, as others waded into the camp, knocking down tents and swinging truncheons at those inside.

"We yelled, 'We are peaceful! Peaceful!"' said protester Mahmoud Mansouri. "The women and children were attacked just like the rest of us."

Dr. Sadek Al-Ikri, 44, said he was tending to sick protesters at a makeshift medical tent in the square when the police stormed in. He said he was tied up and severely beaten, then thrown on a bus with others.

"They were beating me so hard I could no longer see. There was so much blood running from my head," he said. "I was yelling, 'I'm a doctor. I'm a doctor.' But they didn't stop."

He said the police beating him spoke Urdu, the main language of Pakistan. A pillar of the protest demands is to end the Sunni regime's practice of giving citizenship to other Sunnis from around the region to try to offset the demographic strength of Shiites. Many of the new Bahrainis are given security posts.

Al-Ikri said he and others on the bus were left on a highway overpass, but the beatings didn't stop. Eventually, the doctor said he fainted but could hear another police official say in Arabic: "Stop beating him. He's dead. We should just leave him here."

Many families were separated in the chaos. An Associated Press photographer saw police rounding up lost children and taking them into vehicles.

Hussein Abbas, 22, was awakened by a missed call on his cell phone from his wife, presumably trying to warn him about reports that police were preparing to move in.

"Then all of a sudden the square was filled with tear gas clouds. Our women were screaming. ... What kind of ruler does this to his people? There were women and children with us!"

ABC News said its correspondent, Miguel Marquez, was caught in the crowd and beaten by men with billy clubs, although he was not badly injured.

The violence killed four people, said hospital officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

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[askagain]

The goal of the protesters is to topple the government. That being the case, why wouldn't the government do whatever is necessary to prevent that from happening? Just because some people are unhappy does not mean that a government should dissolve itself. One fact that we don't know is whether the protesters represent a majority or a minority of the people. We have plenty of people in America who protest our government. When 50,000 people gather for a protest, do they really represent the majority of Americas. Usually not but they can exercise influence far greater than their numbers warrant.

[Rodeo_Joe]

Your hard-earned tax dollars at work.

[thesevenveils]

Rise people and free yourself from the repressive fiefdoms and monarchies that have done nothing but steal the riches of their lands from their people.

[Uncle_Eccoli]

Clinton urges restraint. That sounds nice, but this is EXACTLY how the US would handle such a situation - the only difference being that the US government would issue warnings first.

[kevjustice]

the u.s. has a long record of suppressing democracy in the middle east in order to control oil, markets and to maintain isreali hegemony. the u.s. does not like democracy there because those who are elected will want us to stop interferring in their affairs.

[Uncle_Eccoli]

"Israeli hegemony?" You Jew-haters really live in your own little world, don't you? Israel is far from a hegemon.

[kevjustice]

facts speak for themselves. isreal, a defacto apartheid state, is ruled by religious extremists with full u.s. support.

[Mastermind7526]

The Egypt-inspired protests began Monday as a cry for the country's Sunni monarchy to loosen its grip, including hand-picking most top government posts, and open more opportunities for the country's majority Shiites, who have long complained of being blocked from decision-making roles or key posts in the military.
The protest movement's next move is unclear, but the island nation has been rocked by street battles as recently as last summer.
. I'm really surprised that Obama is making such anti-democracy comments recently, and not being more openly supportive. The latest example is the TMZ clip that captured some off the cuff comments from Obama: http://fms.nu/gQi1sK

If he keeps this up, the United States will be looked down upon for not supporting freedom and equality in opportunity for all people. This is something that was supposed to be core to American values.

[SandmanUSMC]

The Bahrain ministry of interior (MOI) ordered all roads around the protesters so they could not escape. As ambulances arrived they were shot at too. The corrupt monarchy in Bahrain, like any other corrupt regime in the region, must fall. Their very existence provides a reason for terrorist organizations to exist in the first place. The US should not be allied with such people. Their interests are only for themselves. That needs to come to an end.

[pragmatist1]

The protesters may eventually depose their current government, but what replaces it may, in the end, be worse than what was eliminated. Are protesters this naive as to think there wouldn't be any push back or violence? You want to protest, then do so at your own risk.

[Alturnative]

The World Teacher Maitreya two decades ago stated what is now happening would occur:

"The politicians are trying to hold on to power, but the will of the people will eventually dominate every political system in the world. The people are beginning to breathe fresh air, they sense an openness all around them, said the associate. . .
The Middle East - From now on we will begin to see the arrival of democracy: government by the people for the people. The sheiks and sultans are being exposed to this new force and it is only a matter of time before they give in or are swept away, said the associate. . . The power of the sheiks, kings and sultans has been broken. The days when the people of Middle Eastern countries were treated like slaves has come to an end, said the associate.
The people are demanding government by the people for the people. The evolution of awareness in the human individual is spreading throughout the world as people begin to realize their heritage and their destiny. The seed is growing into a plant that will flower and give fruit to the younger generation, he said."
- World Teacher Maitreya in 1991 through an associate as reported in Share Intenational

[excop1949]

"What kind of ruler does this to his people?"

GEE...I DON'T KOW...WHAT KIND OF RULER ARE YOU PROTESTING AGAINST?
I UNDERSTAND THAT JOURNALISTS WANT TO DO THEIR JOB, BUT THEY AIN'T IN THE U.S....THOSE FOLKS THEY ARE REPORTING ON NEVER HEARD OF THE 1ST AMENDMENT...