The Interior Ministry (MoI) uncovered the details of the Juffair incident in which one citizen died and Al Daih one in which one woman suffered a head injury, pledging that it will do its utmost to assume its national responsibilities of maintaining security and stability, ensuring the safety of the citizens and residents and protecting public and private properties, since all acts of sabotage and violence pose a threat on all people in Bahrain and represent a crime against the Bahraini society.
During a press conference held on Saturday the MoI Spokesman Brigadier Tariq Al Hassan offered the MoI’s condolences to the family of the deceased youth in Juffair and wished a speedy recovery to Zahra Saleh Mohammed, who was hit at her forehead with an iron bar that was hurled by criminals taking part in the unlicensed and illegal gathering in Daih area.
MoI expressed its deep regret that a group of terrorists and perpetrators of chaos and rioting continued with their acts of vandalism, particularly the closure of public streets, burning tires, pouring oil on the roads and hurling stones and iron bars on the security patrols and police, inflicting harm on the pedestrians and putting public lives and properties at stake.
“What happened in Al Daih and Juffair on Friday was part of the acts of sabotage that cause harm to all the people whether citizens or residents,” he said.
Concerning the Juffair incident, Brigadier Tariq Al Hassan explained that it all began at 12:45 a.m (early Saturday morning, November 19, 2011) when a number of people, who had iron bars and Molotov cocktails, gathered in Juffair, blocked the roads with barriers and containers, poured oil on the roads and started their acts of vandalism and arson in the area.
He added that the police patrol carrying its duties in the area was surprised by the large number of people encircling it from all sides and since it could not deal with them, the driver of the vehicle tried to move away from the area, but to his surprise, a number of other people gathered on the same street, and surrounded the patrol to prevent its movement.
“While the patrol was trying to drive away,” he said. “The mob threw stones and iron bars on it and because of the poured oil on the street, the driver lost control of his car which started zigzagging right and left, and at that moment a number of people assaulted it and climbed on top of the vehicle which was also hit by one of the saboteurs on its front with iron bar.”
“As a result of the sabotage and because of loss of control, the police car crashed into a house wall where one of the rioters (Ali Yusuf Ali Hassan” 16 years) was caught between the car and the wall and died of his injuries,” he also said, noting that an ambulance immediately came from Salmaniya Hospital and after medical examination, Ali Youssef was pronounced dead and his body was taken to the mortuary while the public prosecutor was notified and an immediate probe launch into the death.
“The forensic report revealed that the death resulted from the crashed bones accompanied with fractures in peripherals, chest and backbone,” said Brigadier Al Hassan said.
“The forensics hasn’t mentioned that the deceased was repeatedly run over as some people and a number of satellite channels have claimed”.
He also said that a police man was injured by the crowd and is now hospitalized while the police car was damaged.
Regarding Al Daih Incident, Brigadier Tariq Al Hassan stated that on Friday evening, at 05:50 pm, about 50 protesters started hurling stones and iron bars on the security forces.
“At that time,” he added, “Citizen Zahra Saleh Mohammed, 27, was on her way back home, but was unable to reach her place due to the closure of the road, so she parked her car away from home and walked to her house. Midway, there were many saboteurs assaulting the security forces with stones and iron bars. Zahra was hit on the front of her head with an iron bar thrown by one of the participants.
“Soon,” he went on saying “she was rushed to the Salmaniya Medical Complex in an ambulance to receive the necessary treatment and meanwhile, the Public Prosecution was notified and a probe into the case started immediately.”
The MoI Spokesman affirmed that such acts of sabotage “represent a social crime and real danger to all the citizens, particularly the passers-by like Zahra, an innocent who was hit by an iron bar.
“What happened was the result of illegal practices, such as pouring oil on the streets and other acts of terror and vandalism,” Brigadier Tariq Al Hassan said,
“The MoI issued warnings on more than one occasions through all media outlets of the consequences of such acts of sabotage as perpetrators pose a serious threat to the society.”
He also pledged that the MoI “will not hesitate to protect national security, stability and safety of the citizens and residents as well as public and private property,” pointing out that it is following an integrated security plan in order to achieve that.
Brigadier Al Hassan also urged citizens and residents to abide by the law so as to ensure that security and stability prevail across the kingdom, calling upon “parents, political associations and all concerned civil society institutions to protect their children from being involved in those dangerous and irresponsible acts of violence which resulted in the injury of an innocent citizen and the death of another.”
He also said the Interior Ministry has adopted an international security cooperation strategy and is currently coordinating with brotherly countries to pinpoint and identify instigators and saboteurs who, he stressed, will be dealt with according to the law.
The Traffic Directorate’s Brigadier Moussa Al Dousary said that a TD’s patrol inspected the scene and found out that the driver lost control of the police car because of the large quantities of oil spilled on the road, adding that a number of people climbed on top of the vehicle, which, he said, made it crash into a house wall where one of the rioters was caught between it and the wall. He also asserted that the vehicle was harmed.