Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Accustomed to their treacherous ways, the Bahraini regime's security forces raided the open protest site held in the village of Diraz in the early hours of the morning at around 3 am, a scene similar to that which took place 6 years ago at the dawn of the bloody Thursday (February 17, 2011). Some of the protestors were camping in the protest square, facing the Bahraini Shia spiritual leader Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim's house- some awaken and others awaiting the time of dawn prayer.

Heavy footsteps disturbed the stillness of the cold night. Sounds of stomping boots were heard rushing towards the area. They did not seem to be a small group of people. The protestors who were still awake tried to make sure whether they were hearing real noises or not. The sounds then become louder and closer, shaking up the place. It was confirmed: Wake up people...there's a raid...a raid.

Protestors woke up in panic to see a band of government security forces 20 meters away from them. The forces were dressed in black, firing shots. The attackers were not members of riot forces. They were from the Special Forces, dressed in black and masked. They were holding shotguns and firing at people.

The forces; however, did not enter the site with their 9 civilian vehicles. They parked them at one of the village's entrances because the protestors had placed barriers to prevent raids of security forces, which took place at a previous time. Thus, this time, marching and heavily armed troops raided the place as if they were raiding an enemy at war.

Noise and intimidation filled the air. Sounds of live shots, shotguns and screams of youths disturbed the calmness of the night. People residing in the nearby houses soon woke up to the attack and screams were heard everywhere. It was not a single anti-riot force merely firing tear gas canisters. It was groups of state security forces firing shots everywhere.

Youths had no choice but to hide in the nearby neighborhoods to protect themselves from the gunshots. The only weapon they had were small stones, which they collected from the ground to confront the live shots with. The masked forces; however, shot directly at the youths this time, leaving a number of injuries. The 18-year-old youth Mostafa Hamdan sustained the most dangerous injury in his head after a bullet lodged in his skull. The other youths carried him while he was bleeding and waited for the security forces to withdraw, then admitted him to Al-Salmaniya Medical Complex. His situation is critical and there are no specific information about his case. News reported that he suffers from fractures in his skull, a concussion and internal bleeding.

The forces took 6 protestors into custody. In order to find a justification fot their action, the Interior Ministry will post on its official Twitter account, "forces raided house near Sheikh Isa Qassim's house and arrested a youth." One can predict that the Ministry of Interior will later claim that during the dawn raid, all these security forces and firearms were used to arrest a wanted suspect.

A Twitter follower will comment: Are the members who attacked protestors in Diraz affiliated to ISIS or the ministry of interior? Is there any difference? Is there any official response?

Arabic Version