Manama, February 17: Two demonstrators have been killed as Bahraini riot police fire tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters camping out in the capital, Manama.
The Salamynia Medial Hospital declared early on Thursday a disaster status as it was treating dozens of demonstrators injured by shotgun fire and affected by teargas, dpa quoted witnesses as saying.
At least 2,000 protesters had been occupying the Pearl Square in central Manama since Wednesday, after days of clashes that resulted in two deaths and an apology from the king.
Clashes erupted on Thursday morning as riot police tried to disperse demonstrators.
Bahraini protesters hope to turn the square into the base of a long-running protests, similar to Cairo’s Liberation Square, which led to the downfall of the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
On Wednesday, Bahraini authorities said that they will seek to restore calm in the streets on Thursday, after days of protests inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and intensified by the deaths of two protesters in 24 hours.
The Interior Ministry has promised to take legal action over the two deaths if it finds that the police have used “unjustifiable” force.
The magnitude of the pro-democracy protests in Bahrain is unprecedented in the history of the kingdom and the authorities’ efforts to quell them have so far been ineffective.
The demonstrators, mostly Shia, are demanding a new constitution that would move the country toward democracy and limit the king’s powers.
Bahrain is ruled by a royal family from the country’s Sunni minority, who are blamed for discrimination against the country’s Shia population — comprising 70 percent of the population.
Protesters have called on King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to fire his uncle, Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, who has been prime minister since 1971.
—-Agencies