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| Arabia |
| Police fire teargas at Bahrain protesters |
| 2013-08-15 |
| Bahraini police fired teargas and birdshot at demonstrators on Wednesday, witnesses said, as protests to press demands for democratic change in the kingdom turned violent. Opposition figures had called in social media for mass rallies on Wednesday in Bahrain, prompting the authorities to tighten security and warn of tough measures and leading the United States to temporarily close its embassy. There were no reports of serious injury in the clashes that erupted after sunset in a number of villages around the capital Manama. In Shakhoora, a village west of the capital Manama, a standoff deteriorated into a clash between the police on one side of a barbed wire fence they erected overnight and about 300 demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans on the other. A Reuters witness said police charged the crowd, firing birdshot and teargas. They said some people were overcome by teargas but there were no reports of serious injury. Witnesses said similar clashes occurred in some other villages, including Karana where demonstrators responded by throwing firebombs at police, without causing casualties. Earlier, a protest of some 100 people ended peacefully in the village of Saar west of Manama without police intervention. The main opposition Al Wefaq Society said on its website that around 60 protest rallies were held in 40 locations on Wednesday. |
| Posted by:Steve White |