Graphic Vid Shows Police Allegedly Beating, Shooting Bahrain Protesters
- Posted on March 16, 2011 at 10:52am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Graphic video allegedly coming out of Bahrain shows just how desperate police are becoming in their attempts to squash prostest in the tiny, oil-rich country.
Soldiers and riot police expelled hundreds of protesters from a landmark square in Bahrain’s capital on Wednesday, using tear gas and armored vehicles to try to subdue the growing movement challenging the 200-year-old monarchy. At least five people were killed as clashes flared across the kingdom, according to witnesses and officials.
In another area of Bahrain, one witness described police in a village “hunting” Shiites in what could be part of a wider campaign of intimidation. Two YoutTube videos have surfaced purportedly detailing the police violence. One claims to show security officials shooting a protester while he’s on the ground, while another shows police allegedly stomping a protester in the head and then dragging him away:
The unrest that began last month has increasingly showed signs of a sectarian showdown: The country’s Sunni leaders are desperate to hold power, and majority Shiites are calling for an end to their dynasty. A Saudi-led force from Gulf allies, fearful for their own regimes and worried about Shiite Iran’s growing influence, has grown to more than 1,000 soldiers.
Wednesday’s full-scale assault launched at dawn in Pearl Square, the center of the uprising inspired by Arab revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. Hours later, security forces were picking through burned debris and other remains of the protest camp.
The king’s announcement Tuesday of a three-month emergency rule and the crackdown on Pearl Square sent a message that authorities will strike back with overwhelming force in the strategic island nation, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
Security forces barred journalists and others from moving freely around Manama and other areas of the country a day after emergency rule was declared. A 4 a.m to 4 p.m. curfew was imposed in most of the country.
Witnesses said at least two protesters were killed when the square was stormed. Officials at Ibn Nafees Hospital said a third protester who later died from wounds. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears of reprisals from authorities.
But a government statement said the only fatalities during the raid were two policemen who were “repeatedly run over by three vehicles containing protesters leaving the fringes of the scene.” The Interior Ministry also policeman was killed late Tuesday.
The government did not say whether the offensive included soldiers from other Gulf nations.
State TV broadcast video showing military vehicles in the square flying Bahrain’s red-and-white flag as security officials moved through the wreckage of the encampment, set up at the base of a towering monument to the country’s history as a pearl diving center. The video showed the ground littered with debris, including satellite dishes and charred tent poles.
Helicopters crisscrossed over the square, which was cleared by security forces late last month but was later retaken by protesters after a deadly confrontation with army units.
During the attack, protesters fled for cover into side streets and security forces blocked main roads into Manama. Mobile phones were apparently jammed in central Manama during the height of the attack and Internet service remained at a crawl.
Hamid Zuher, a 32-year-old protester who slept at the square, said riot police first moved in on foot.
“They fired tear gas and then opened fire,” Zuher said. “We lifted our arms and started saying ‘Peaceful, Peaceful.’ Then we had to run away.”
The government presented a different story, saying security forces came under attack from about 250 “saboteurs” hurling gasoline bombs and later fired back with tear gas. It said no live ammunition was used.
In Shiite villages, people went to mosques and held protest prayers. Others lit fires in anger. Clashes were reported in other mostly Shiite areas of the country, where traffic was tightly controlled by military forces in an apparent attempt to prevent gatherings or a surge of people toward the capital.
In Sitra, resident Rania Ali said police were charging after Shiites even as they ran for shelter.
“I’m scared. I can’t move from my house,” said Ali, who is a Sunni married to a Shiite man. “I saw them chasing Shiites like they were hunting … It is a cleansing war against our Shiite brothers.”
Roadblocks around the country also prevented injured protesters from reaching the main state hospital, which was working on generator power. The extent of the blackout in Manama was not immediately clear.
The official Bahrain news agency said the emergency rule bans “rallies and disrupting the public order,” restricts movement and could imposes curfew.
For Bahrain’s authorities, clearing Pearl Square would be more of a symbolic blow against protesters than a strategic victory. Opposition groups can still mobilize marches and take other actions against the leadership.
Bahrain‘s sectarian clash is increasingly viewed as an extension of the region’s rivalries between the Gulf Arab leaders and Iran. Washington, too, is pulled deeply into the Bahrain’s conflict because of its key naval base – the Pentagon‘s main Gulf counterweight to Iran’s growing military ambitions.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday denounced the Bahraini government’s crackdown and the presence of the Saudi-led force.
“The people’s demands for change must be respected. How is it possible to stop waves of humanity with military force?” Ahmadinejad said, according to Iranian state TV.
Iran has no direct political links with Bahrain’s main Shiite groups, but Iranian hard-liner in the past have called the tiny island nation that “14th Province” of the Islamic Republic.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed alarm over “provocative acts and sectarian violence,” and said she telephoned Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saudi to stress the need for the foreign forces to promote dialogue.
The Pentagon has authorized military families and civilians with non-emergency jobs to leave Bahrain.
The international credit agency Fitch Ratings cut its rating on Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat by two notches Wednesday.
In mostly Shiite southern Iraq, more than 4,000 people joined a march calling for the Arab League to halt attacks on Bahraini civilians. “Bahrain is the Gaza of the Gulf,” some chanted in reference to past Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(video H/T Business Insider)
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LOSTAGAIN
Posted on March 17, 2011 at 2:49amThe sound of utter silence from this administration is deafening……..
Report Post »NormanDeArmond
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 9:54pmWhat do you expect now that the filthy demon worshipping House of Saud who blew up our towers and spawn terror in their muriads of madrassas are on the scene
Report Post »Paul -Indiana
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 9:29pmAre Shiites the new Kaffirs?
Report Post »temple62
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 7:18pmAnd what did they expect, a slap on the wrist like the Wisconsin Union Teachers got? Reality check, when you get outside of the protection of Obama, Holder and Nappy these people don’t mess around!
Report Post »Eblaze44
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 6:56pm@tompaineknowsthescore – you are right in a “limited” sort of way. every president and our government has been hand over fist propping up dictators and tyrants for over a hundred years. only every once in a while does the US turn on it’s head and pull the carpet out from under their puppets (the Shah of Iran, Marcos of the Philippines, and what’s his name from Panama).
Report Post »Eblaze44
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 6:57pmand now we have our own tyrant. how about them apples?
Report Post »Eblaze44
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 6:52pmI love this “allegedly” stuff. either the vid shows it happening or it doesn’t. I forgot – must remain politically correct – and must give the offender the right of innocent until PROVEN guilty. We don’t even know how to spot the truth, much less tell it any more.
Report Post »rightwingheroes
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 3:44pmSoros and Obama sent the corrupt Unions to the Middle East so they could convince them to rise up against their government.
Report Post »SilentReader
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 2:43pmObama must step down. He’s not a leader in any stretch of the imagination.
He goes golfing numerous times while the Middle East is on fire and the Japanese have lost 10,000+ people in the worst Earthquake and Tsunami that they have experienced in their lifetimes.
This man is a disgrace to America!
Report Post »Paul -Indiana
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 9:30pmPresent!!!!!!!
Report Post »RiteOne
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 2:14pmNo one can soundly defend the idea that all of the MidEast uprising is interconnected. What the puppet master wants is for all to believe that the unrest is self triggered. I say like others here that it is manipulated by the puppet master. I do however, consider Obama to be more a spectator than an orchestrator. I see Soros and the unions calling the shots and Obama just says OK. Soros sets table for the union puppet masters and they all put on a show for Obama.
Report Post »red_white_blue2
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:20pmAnd as BARRY says “Energy prices will neccessarily skyrocket”—gee, i wonder if this could help his cause any!
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:01pmWho thinks our own police are any better?
If you do, you’re deluding yourself greatly to your own detriment and the detriment of your fellow citizens…
Our own police have a history of violence against citizens.
Report Post »quarter horseman
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:25amAs Barry aka BHO, sits back and watches, drool ruinning down his face, he thinks to himself O… the power! the power I have, and still cant send in our police to shoot those Tea Baging ignoramuses! Dam it all to hell!
Report Post »YouGottaProblemWithThat
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:24amTake a look into the future of America people. There will be civil unrest here soon. Believe it. Heaven help us. Glory to the Holy One of Israel.
Report Post »G man
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:20amNobody is home at the White House. Not a single grown up anywhere near the place. Libya and Bahrain is what the entire world looks like without the USA. And with who we have in the White House…there is no USA. No leadership. No accepting our role as the super power we are. This guy does not even want us to be a super power. So not only is the US getting exactly what it deserves for making this incompetent our President, the world is also getting what they deserve for applauding his election.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:14amJust a scare tactic! The United States is the greatest Nation and always will be as long as, “Together We Stand!”
Report Post »This is a complex situation, Shame on those who blame this on the President or compare this foreign unrest to the problems of the United States! Unlike the Mideast Rioters, Americans are patriotic and passionate, and our protesters are quite moral, good-hearted citizens who care about our generations to come.
G man
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:23amFor God sake man/woman or whatever you are. Even the left understands we don’t have anyone leading on anything here. The guy is a complete disgrace.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:24amGreat video I just found (Better late than never) RE; the video “ Fitna” by Gert Wilders. can be found at the VEOH site. Very disturbing and much more productive use of your time than replying to this idiot
Report Post »NuffSaid
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:17pmToo bad the left doesn’t care about this generation. Where do you get your news anyway?
Report Post »moreteaplease
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:22pmYeah, just like that recent display of morality from the union protesters in WI. You need to take off the rose colored glasses.
Report Post »teachermitch32
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:30pmSleazbo,
You said, “our protesters are quite moral, good-hearted citizens who care about our generations to come”.
You mean like the union protestors in WI that wrote fowl language on, and tore up recall petitions while the union police stood by and did nothing? I don’t call that moral, good-hearted or caring.
Report Post »TSUNAMI-22
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 4:17pm@ Sleazyhippo,
In a small way I feel sorry for you because when push comes to shove within the USA, you’ll have a rude awakening in the area of reality.
It’s going to be every man, woman, and child for himself / herself in the name of self-preservation.
Report Post »Ssenkrad
Posted on March 18, 2011 at 2:14am@Sleazy Please tell me you’re not talking about the union thugs when you say “moral” and “good-heartened”. Otherwise I might choke to death from my own spittle flying out of my throat as I let out a air-gasping, knee slapping laugh. And maybe after that I’ll cry a little too.
Report Post »chickenlittle
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:03amWhy don’t we just make a recording of Hillary (and Obama for that matter) with all the stupid diplomatic buzzwords “calling for dialog,“ ”outrage,“ ”brought to justice,“ ”investigate,“ ”serious consequences,” and all the rest. They can play them anytime something outrageously serious happens. THEN FIRE ALL THE COWARDLY INEFFECTUAL EMISSARIES, save the public payroll and stop flying around the world on our dime making useless responses to dangerous incidents.
Report Post »Beware of Romans
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 10:57amObamas Union Lapdogs (Richard Trumka) went to the Middle east specifically to start a regional uprising.
I blame Obama for each and every death, no matter the country!
Our Communist/Socialist President is a mass murderer like all other dictators.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:01amObama has to be loving this; each and every moment of it’s uprising.
This is what the future of America will become if we do not make the stand (non violent) against what the administration is doing.
I have to wonder how long it will be until Obama just surrenders the base in Bahrain to those who are uprising, and maybe even aids them in overthrowing the monarchy there and in Saudi Arabia.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:03amNero fiddled while Rome burned…
Report Post »Obama dribbled out his bracket choices as the world burned…
hersey10
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:09amDon‘t expect statement from the WH about this until the Bamster gets back from his Rio vacation in which he’s visiting the newly elected communist president who by the way was in jail . Birds of a feather …you can finish the rest .
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:11amShame on You!
Report Post »Beware of Romans
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:26amTake your crap to CNN with the rest of the euro-fascists sleezy.
Report Post »fertlmind
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:40amMaybe the Saudi’s can get their hands on Trumka and give him a little arab love
Report Post »libertybell
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:52amYou got it! Snowleopard, I agree with you! Obama is to blame for all this violance! Where are GOP?? They should be all over this!! We conservatives need to get some back bone. And quick! To show the Americans their true colors.
Report Post »tompaineknowsthescore
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 11:57amyou are right Obama has to share some blame by tolerating dictators yet i think the large proportion the blame should go to those dictators who repress there people by murder and torture. Its incredibly simplistic to think that US unions started these uprising’s how about the repression, high unemployment, lack of a free press and representation. You seriously think that Trumpka waddled over to the Mid East and said right people lets revolt and then all this happened?! this has been brewing for many years
Report Post »tompaineknowsthescore
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:08pm@libertyBell
Report Post »The GOP do not have a leg to stand on Both Bushes and Reagan before them pursued a policy of propping up dictators in the middle east that are now crashing down. (democrats are just as guilty of this btw)
LetUsReason
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:53pmDang, it’s bad in Bahrain. Wonder why there’s not much media coverage on it. Easter Saudi Arabia also has a high percentage of Shi’ites….making them nervous.
Report Post »LetUsReason
Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:54pmI grew up in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, just across the water from Bahrain. Been there a few times. This is sad.
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