The protesters, who have been camping around the BFH since March 6, on Sunday refused to listen to the public security, traffic police and Capital Governorate officials and on the contrary attacked the unarmed police officials leaving at least over one dozen injured and two of them seriously.
The saga started at 5am in the morning when the officials failed to persuade the illegal protesters to remove the blockades aimed at choking the business activity by paralysing the movement of traffic from and into Manama district.
According to official reports scores of citizens, students and 14 members of the public security forces in Bahrain were injured as violent protestors used Molotov cocktails, knives, batons and sharp metal objects indulging them in clashes.
One of the policemen sustained serious head injuries and another was stabbed by the defiant protesters who even refused to their political parties which denounced violence in the name of ‘peaceful protests’ in the country.
The protestors first took to the streets blocking the King Faisal Highway on both sides at 5:45 am interrupting movement of vehicles and stopping people going to work and schools.
“There were a group of 350 people blocking the road at early hours of Sunday morning putting barriers and stood in the road to prevent citizens from going to work,” Ministry of Interior in a statement said.
Brigadier General Tariq Al Hassan, Interior Ministry’s spokesman said that the roads leading to the capital had been blocked earlier this morning because of the barricades put up by protestors in front of the Bahrain Financial Harbour and on the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Bridge. “This urged the local Public security directorate to deploy security forces at 7am to remove those barriers in order to ensure the people’s right to use that vital highway.”
However, he added, protesters on the site not only refused to cooperate with security forces, but also attacked them by hurling Molotov cocktails on them and stabbing them with sharp metal rods and daggers.
“In light of those incidents, riot police was summoned and barriers were removed,” he said.
“Police forces were also attacked by the GCC Roundabout rioters when they tried to remove other barriers off the bridge, which required them to use tear gas,” he said.
“The security forces informed protesters that they were there to maintain order and ease traffic and that they would pull out and quit as soon their mission was over.”
“When the security forces were about to leave the site, protesters attacked a police patrol again, and, as a result, many policemen were also wounded and taken to hospital for medical treatment.
“In spite of these acts of blatant defiance of law by a group people forces left the scene without any resistance to avert causing human losses,” he added.