Troops continue crackdown on Bahrainis

A Bahraini man gestures as teargas fume billows from a home and street on Friday, March 25, 2011, in the western Shia village of Malkiya, Bahrain. AP photo

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171733.html

Saudi and Bahraini troops have attacked anti-government protesters in Sitra and several other towns in Bahrain with teargas and shotguns.

The forces attacked protesters after Friday Prayers on the north-eastern island of Sitra -- the country's oil center.

Other massive rallies quelled by security forces were held in Malakiya, Karzakan, Sanabes, Burj and Bilad al Qadim, the Associated Press reported.

In Bilad al Qadem, on the outskirts of the capital Manama, a funeral was held on Friday for Habi Abdel Aziz, 33, after authorities finally handed over his body, a week after he went missing.

Meanwhile, reports say an elderly man has died after teargas canisters were fired into his home in Maameer village. His death brings the number of those killed since the start of the protests to at least 24.

The Al Khalifa government has brushed off a call for an international investigation into the deaths of peaceful demonstrations as well as the beating of injured protesters at the state-run Salmaniya Medical Complex.

Security has been tight in Manama, where protesters are planning to retake the city's Salmaniya hospital from Saudi and Bahraini troops.

The UN Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has called on Bahraini officials not to use force against protesters. Rights groups say at least sixty-five protesters have been detained by the government and around 100 others are still missing.

Protesters continue to defy the state of emergency, which prohibits public gatherings, called by the king on March 15.