Bahrain police clear Pearl Square

Two police killed in hit-and-run attacks by opposition motorists during raid on Manama’s Pearl Square, three protesters killed.

Middle East Online, March 16, 2011

By Ali Khalil – MANAMA

Protesters fled the square Bahraini police firing shotguns and tear gas crushed the camp in Manama of a month-old pro-democracy protest on Wednesday in an operation that left five dead and sparked Shiite outrage across the region. The violence prompted US President Barack Obama, whose country is a close ally of Bahrain, to express “deep concern,” as his secretary of state said the deployment of Gulf troops to quell political unrest was the wrong response. Early on Wednesday morning, hundreds of riot police backed by tanks and helicopters assaulted demonstrators in Manama’s Pearl Square, clearing the symbolic heart of the uprising in the strategic Gulf kingdom. Continues >>