Saturday, August 10, 2013

Bahrainis hold funeral for boy killed in regime crackdown

People in Bahrain have held a massive funeral procession for a young boy who died after inhaling toxic gas used by the regime forces, becoming the latest victim of the kingdom’s brutal crackdown. People joined the procession that started from the town of al-Malikiyah to his resting place on Saturday. Ali Jaffar Habib, 10, was transferred to a hospital outside Bahrain after he became seriously ill for inhaling toxic gas. The young boy’s grandfather, Haji Habib, was killed on the same day the regime forces fired toxic gas. More than one hundred people have died since the revolution began two years ago. Many of the victims died when regime forces fired poisonous tear gas into residential areas and homes to crush anti-regime protests. The kingdom’s main opposition group, al-Wefaq, said earlier that the regime forces raided 216 homes in several villages across the country last week. The opposition group also said most raids took place after midnight or at dawn and 42 people including two children were also arrested. Manama has been under fire for its human rights record and harsh crackdown on protesters. On August 7, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa banned protests in the capital, Manama, ahead of the August 14 celebrations of the country’s independence from the United Kingdom. Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since mid-February 2011, demanding political reform and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.

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