In response, the Bahraini security forces fired tear gas and shotgun pellets at protesters to suppress the demonstrations.

Al-Alam Arabic language news network quoted Bahrain Human Rights Watch as saying that over the past week, the Al Khalifa regime has made 13 cases of arbitrary arrests.

In a report released in late September, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) announced that 39 people, including 5 children, had been arrested by the regime’s security forces from September 14 to 20.

The group further called on the Al Khalifa regime to stop the “cruel” arrests and release all political prisoners.
In March 2015, Bahrain witnessed 272 arrests on political grounds, which was the highest number in the 12-month period, the report said.

Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, with Manama using heavy-handed measures in an attempt to crush the demonstrations.

Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.

Bahraini opposition groups have unanimously called for the release of all the jailed political dissidents, stressing that only a political solution, and not the use of force, would end the political crisis in the Persian Gulf state; Tasnimnews Agency reported.