Security Forces in Bahrain Open Fire on Mourners
Hassan Ammar/Associated Press
Protesters fled during an assault by Bahrain security forces in Manama on Friday. More Photos »
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN and NADIM AUDI
Published: February 18, 2011
MANAMA, Bahrain — Government forces opened fire on hundreds of mourners marching toward Pearl Square on Friday, sending people running away in panic amid the boom of concussion grenades. But even as the people fled, at least one helicopter sprayed fire on them and a witness reported seeing mourners crumpling to the ground.
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Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters
Mourners followed the funeral procession of Mahmoud Makki Abutaki, a 22-year-old protester killed by shotgun fire on Thursday. More Photos »
It was not immediately clear what type of ammunition the forces were firing, but some witnesses reported fire from automatic weapons and the crowd was screaming “live fire, live fire.” At a nearby hospital, witnesses reported seeing people with very serious injuries and gaping wounds, at least some of them caused by rubber bullets that appeared to have been fired at close range.
Even as ambulances rushed to rescue people, forces fired on medics loading the wounded into their vehicles. That only added to the chaos, with people pitching in to evacuate the wounded by car and doctors at a nearby hospital saying the delays in casualties reaching them made it impossible to get a reasonable count of the dead and wounded.
A Western official said at least one person had died in the mayhem surrounding the square, and reports said at least 50 had been wounded. The official quoted a witness as saying that those shooting were in the military, not the police, indicating a hardening of the government’s stance against those trying to stage a popular revolt.
Thousands of people gathered at the hospital, offering blood for the wounded, and doctors said they had to work as “volunteers” because the government had issued orders against helping protesters.
The mourners who defied a government ban to march on Pearl Square were mostly young men who had been part of a funeral procession for a protester killed in an earlier crackdown by the police.
Minutes after the first shots were fired, forces in a helicopter that had been shooting at the crowds opened fire at a Western reporter and videographer who were filming a sequence on the latest violence. Two young men who had been in the march said some of the fire came from snipers.
The crown prince, Sheik Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, went on Bahrain TV to call for calm, saying, “Today is the time to sit down and hold a dialogue, not to fight," Reuters reported.
The violence came a day after both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged the leaders of the country, a longtime ally, to show restraint. President Obama reiterated that message on Friday and condemned the violence in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen.
“The United States condemns the use of violence by governments against peaceful protesters in those countries and wherever else it may occur,” Mr. Obama said. “We express our condolences to the family and friends of those who have been killed during the demonstrations.”
The president, who also spoke of the right of assembly as a “universal” right, made the remarks in a statement read to reporters traveling with him on a domestic trip on Air Force One.
At least seven people had died in clampdowns in Bahrain before Friday’s violence.
The chaos has left the Obama administration in the uncomfortable position of dealing with a strategic Arab ally locked in a showdown with its people.
The protests in Bahrain started Monday, inspired by the overthrow of autocratic governments in Egypt and Tunisia. The Bahraini government initially cracked down hard, then backed off after at least two deaths and complaints from the United States.
But since Thursday morning, security forces have shown little patience with the protesters, first firing on demonstrators sleeping in Pearl Square early Thursday morning, killing at least five, and then shooting today at those who gathered to mark an earlier death.
The violence appeared to be transforming the demands of the protesters, who early on were calling for a switch from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one. On Thursday, the opposition withdrew from the Parliament and demanded that the government step down. And on Friday, the mourners were chanting slogans like “death to Khalifa,” referring to King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.
The protests here, while trying to mimic those in Egypt and Tunisia, add a dangerous new element: religious division. The king and the ruling elite of Bahrain are Sunni, while the majority of the population are Shiites, who have been leading the demonstrations and demanding not only more freedom but equality.
The king is distrustful enough of his Shiite subjects that many of his soldiers and police officers are foreigners hired by the government.
