Member of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights Yousef al-Mohafadheh said on Saturday that the clampdown took place in several villages across the country, including Abu-Saibah and Bilad al-Qadeem.

According to Mohafadheh, Saudi-backed Bahraini forces fired tear gas at demonstrators, raided dozens of homes and made several arrests.

The Tamarod movement in Bahrain, named after Egypt’s Tamarod movement, has called for massive protests on August 14.

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.

Al Wefaq said in a statement that the people had the right to express their views freely and to organize protests and rallies.

However, Sameera, Bahrain’s state minister for information affairs, insisted that the movement was an extension of a group attempting to topple the political regime.

The Bahraini uprising began in mid-February 2011 as a domino effect of the Arab Spring which took place in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

The Bahraini government promptly launched a brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests and called in Saudi-led Arab forces from neighboring states.

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

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

Some human rights groups have criticized the Bahraini regime of violation of international human rights codes in purpose to force the opponents to become silence.

NTJ/SHI