Saudi Riot Police Fire Live Rounds On Shiite Protesters In Qatif
By RT
Several demonstrators have been wounded in Saudi Arabia’s eastern district of Qatif after security forces opened fire on protesters.
Officers fired live rounds at demonstrators, who carried posters of detained protesters who were injured and arrested earlier this month.
Spokesmen for the Saudi Interior Ministry said several people were burning tires during the protests, and several arrests were made.
Among those arrested today was Mohammed al-Shakhuri, who is on a list of the country’s 23 most-wanted people, Al-Manar News reported.
Witnesses said Shakhuri was taken to a military hospital with bullet wounds in his back and neck.
“There were no casualties,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Clashes between police and protesters have increased in recent days, following the deaths of two protesters earlier this month.
Protests began in Saudi Arabia last March, when a Shia uprising in neighbouring Bahrain was crushed by Gulf troops, led by Saudi Arabia.
Demonstrations escalated earlier this month, after a prominent Shia cleric was arrested for being what the interior ministry deemed an “instigator of sedition.”
His detainment has been the source of widespread demonstrations demanding an end to sectarian discrimination in the region.
Shia Muslims have long complained of marginalization at the hand of Saudi Arabia’s Sunni ruling family.
