News / Persian Gulf

Bahrain forces attack mourning Shias

Saturday, 08 October 2016 9:29 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 08 October 2016 9:36 AM ]

A picture taken on October 8, 2016 shows the aftermath of an attack by Bahraini regime forces targeting Shia Muslims’ mourning events in an unknown location in Bahrain.

Bahraini security forces have once again attacked Shia Muslims holding mourning rituals during the Muslim month of Muharram.

On Saturday, the forces attacked nine areas across the island country, destroying flags, placards, and other symbols of mourning used by the Bahraini Shia minority to commemorate the martyrdom of the third Shia Imam, Imam Hussein (PBUH), which is mourned on the tenth day of the month.

The attacks were followed by clashes in some areas between the outraged public and the regime forces.

The forces have been targeting Muharram religious rituals since the past week with 35 attacks. On one occasion, they rounded up and investigated the heads of mourning circles in al-Dair Village in the country’s northeast.

A picture taken on October 8, 2016 shows the aftermath of clashes between mourning Shias and regime forces triggered by an attack by regime forces against Shia Muslims’ mourning events in an unknown location in Bahrain.

People in Bahrain have already been protesting since February 14, 2011, demanding an end to the rule of the Al Khalifah dynasty.

People maintain that they will hold their ground until their demands for freedom, constitutional monarchy, and proportional representation in the government are met.

Bahraini forces have been cracking down on the anti-regime protests with the help of Saudi and Emirati troops. Scores of people have been killed and many others gone missing since the beginning of the suppressive push.

Separately, the kingdom’s security apparatus imposed travel bans on human rights lawyer Mohammad Tajir, human rights activist Abdulnabi Al-Ekri, and Sharaf Moussavi from the Bahrain Transparency Society.

Manama has been taking such moves against rights advocates in order to prevent them from participating in overseas rights activism since several months ago.

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