Protesters Killed in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya
February 18th, 2011Via: Reuters:
Unrest spread across the Middle East and North Africa on Thursday as Bahrain launched a swift military crackdown on anti-government protesters and clashes were reported in Libya and Yemen.
Troops in armored vehicles took control of the Bahraini capital after police firing buckshot and teargas drove out protesters hoping to emulate those who toppled veteran leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.
It was the worst violence in the Saudi-allied Gulf island kingdom in decades and a sign of the nervousness felt by Bahrain’s Sunni al-Khalifa royal family, long aware of simmering discontent among the country’s majority Shi’ites.
Four people were killed, 231 were injured and opposition leaders said dozens were detained and about 60 were missing.
“They are killing us!” one demonstrator told Reuters.
On the other side of the Arabian peninsula in Yemen, four protesters were killed in the port of Aden in demonstrations that began seven days ago.
In the capital Sanaa, at least 40 people were injured as hundreds of government loyalists, some armed with guns, charged about 1,500 protesters, who threw rocks at them.
Demonstrators want rid of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years but is seen by Washington as a key ally in its fight against al Qaeda militants based in Yemen.
In Libya, there were reports of five deaths in a rare show of defiance against leader Muammar Gaddafi.
