(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have attacked anti-government demonstrators on the eve of the first anniversary of the popular uprising in the country.
Witnesses say regime forces on Monday fired tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters as they tried to march towards the site of the Pearl Square, the focal point of last year's protests, in Manama.
Traffic came to a standstill on the main highway of the capital as thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-regime slogans started their march from Manama’s outskirts.
Bahraini authorities have warned about participating in opposition-organized demonstrations to mark the first anniversary of the uprising and that security forces will not hesitate to respond.
Manama has bolstered security ahead of the anniversary.
Al-Wefaq, the main opposition bloc in Bahrain, has called for anti-regime protests across the country, saying that although Pearl Square has "become a symbol" for protest, it is not the only one.
"All squares and streets of the country are sites that we use to renew our vows to press ahead in our struggle to achieve our demands,'' it said in a statement.
Pearl Square was razed last year as part of Manama's crackdown on protests. It is now called Martyr's Square.
Bahrainis have been calling for an end to the rule of Al Khalifa dynasty since February last year.
Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others have been arrested in Manama's brutal crackdown on protesters.
The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry issued a report on November 23, 2011, saying that the Manama regime had used ''excessive force, including the extraction of forced confessions against detainees.''
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Witnesses say regime forces on Monday fired tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters as they tried to march towards the site of the Pearl Square, the focal point of last year's protests, in Manama.
Traffic came to a standstill on the main highway of the capital as thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-regime slogans started their march from Manama’s outskirts.
Bahraini authorities have warned about participating in opposition-organized demonstrations to mark the first anniversary of the uprising and that security forces will not hesitate to respond.
Manama has bolstered security ahead of the anniversary.
Al-Wefaq, the main opposition bloc in Bahrain, has called for anti-regime protests across the country, saying that although Pearl Square has "become a symbol" for protest, it is not the only one.
"All squares and streets of the country are sites that we use to renew our vows to press ahead in our struggle to achieve our demands,'' it said in a statement.
Pearl Square was razed last year as part of Manama's crackdown on protests. It is now called Martyr's Square.
Bahrainis have been calling for an end to the rule of Al Khalifa dynasty since February last year.
Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others have been arrested in Manama's brutal crackdown on protesters.
The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry issued a report on November 23, 2011, saying that the Manama regime had used ''excessive force, including the extraction of forced confessions against detainees.''
/129