MANAMA |
(Reuters) - Helicopters flew overhead and Bahraini riot police fired teargas on Wednesday as they cleared mainly Shi'ite protesters from a central roundabout where they had been camped out for weeks, a Reuters witness said.
Protesters threw petrol bombs at police who advanced in thick lines from the Bahrain Financial Harbour, the country's main financial district to the Pearl roundabout, firing dozens of rounds of teargas.
Helicopters buzzed overhead as youths ran towards police in waves and scattered when new rounds of teargas hit.
Young men drove at high speed in their cars as they left the area, knocking down a policeman who was evacuated by ambulance, a Reuters witness who saw the incident reported.
There were no immediate reports of other injuries and the roundabout had been mostly cleared within two hours.
The security operation came a day after Bahrain's king declared martial law as his government struggled to quell an uprising by the island's Shi'ite Muslim majority that has drawn in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbour Saudi Arabia.
It did not appear that Gulf Arab forces invited in by the government for support were involved in the operation.
Thousands of protesters had been camped out at the Pearl roundabout, near the financial district, during weeks of protests. On Sunday, they overwhelmed police and blocked a main thoroughfare leading to the financial area.
Metal barricades and piles of rocks have blocked the main road since and most shops in Bahrain have been shut.
Three people, including one policeman, were killed, and more than 200 were wounded in various clashes on Tuesday.
The United States, a close ally of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, has called for restraint in the island kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
It sent U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman to Bahrain to push for talks to resolve a crisis that has crippled the economy and shaken the world's top oil-exporting region.
Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites who complain of discrimination at the hands of the Sunni royal family. Calls for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed the Sunni minority, which fears that unrest could serve non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran.
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Bahrain has been gripped by its worst unrest since the 1990s after protesters took to the streets last month, inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.
Unlike those countries, where the mainly Sunni populations united against the regime, Bahrain is split along sectarian lines, raising the risk of a slide into civil conflict.
Violent clashes between youths wielding clubs, knives and rocks have become daily occurrences, forcing Bahrain University and many schools to close in order to avoid further trouble.
The United Nations and Britain have echoed the U.S. call for restraint and the Group of Eight powers expressed concern, though analysts said the escalation showed the limits of U.S. influence when security was threatened.
The unrest prompted Bahraini officials to issue stark warnings on Tuesday that martial law could mean imposing a curfew, evacuating areas and dispersing gatherings.
"In order for the situation to return to normal we have to establish order and security and ... stop the violations which have spread disturbances among the people of our dear country," Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed al-Khalifa said.
As protesters fled, Bahraini security forces in light armoured personnel carriers began to clear the makeshift roadblocks. Refuse disposal trucks moved in to remove the debris and tents, some of which protesters set on fire as they left.
As protesters fled to surrounding suburbs and villages, black smoke was seen rising from the Shi'ite Muslim area of Sanabis but the source of the smoke was unclear. Small explosions occasionally reverberated through the capital Manama, but the source also was unclear.
Even in further flung areas of Manama, residents said they could hear clashes and police had cut off three bridges linking Bahrain's airport, on Muharraq island, to the main island.
"There are shots near and far. It's not only shooting in the air, it's urban warfare," said a resident who lives near the Budaya Highway in the northwest of Bahrain.
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