Police forces reportedly stormed several villages around capital Manama during the early hours of Monday and arrested dozens of people in pretext of participating in anti-regime demonstrations.

Police frequently raid the houses of anti-regime protesters in Bahrain even in the holy month of Ramadan.

According to Yousef al-Mohafadheh, a member of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, one hundred people have been injured in the regime clampdown on protests over the past few days.

The secretary general of Bahrain’s main opposition group, al-Wefaq, Sheikh Ali Salman is now calling on Bahrainis to defy the crackdown and continue holding peaceful protests.

Bahrain is in the middle of a popular uprising that erupted in mid-February 2011 in the small Persian Gulf island nation, with demonstrators calling for democratic reforms.

Dozens of people have been killed in the crackdown, and the security forces have arrested hundreds, including doctors and nurses.

A report published by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry in November 2011 found that the Al Khalifa regime had used excessive force in the crackdown and accused Manama of torturing political activists, politicians, and protesters.

Bahrainis say they will continue holding demonstrations until their demand for the establishment of a democratically elected government is met.

NTJ/SHI