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Bahraini forces used tanks and helicopters to drive protesters from the streets on Wednesday clearing a camp that had become a symbol of the Shi'ite Muslim uprising and drawing rare criticism from their U.S. allies.
Three police and three protesters were killed in the violence that has transformed a crisis between the island's majority Shi'ites and minority Sunnis into a regional standoff between Sunni Gulf Arab states and non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran.
President Barack Obama called the kings of Saudi Arabia, a strategic ally of Washington in the Middle East, and of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, to urge restraint. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Bahrain and Gulf allies who sent in troops to back the Sunni royals were on the wrong track.
"We find what's happening in Bahrain alarming. We think that there is no security answer to the aspirations and demands of the demonstrators," she told CBS. "They are on the wrong track."
The assault began less than 24 hours after Bahrain declared martial law to quell sectarian unrest that has sucked in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbors Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates .
A member of parliament from the largest Shi'ite opposition group denounced the assault as a war on the Shi'ite community.
"This is war of annihilation. This does not happen even in wars and this is not acceptable," Abdel Jalil Khalil, the head of Wefaq's 18-member parliament bloc, said. "I saw them fire live rounds, in front of my own eyes."
A protest called by the youth movement, which played a leading role in the protest camp at Pearl roundabout, failed to materialize after the military banned all gatherings and imposed a curfew from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. (9 a.m. - 9 p.m. EST) across a large swathe of Manama.
A Reuters witness saw Bahraini tanks move in the direction of Budaya Street, where the protest was set to take place.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman has been in Bahrain since Monday to push for talks to resolve the crisis.
Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites and they complain of discrimination at the hands of the Sunni royal family, the al-Khalifa. Most Shi'ites want a constitutional monarchy but calls by some hardliners for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed the Sunni minority, which fears the unrest serves Iran.
Gulf Arab ruling families are Sunni and analysts say the intervention of their forces in Bahrain might provoke a response from Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Bahrain's crackdown was "unjustifiable and irreparable."
"Today, we witness the degree of pressure imposed on the majority of people in Bahrain," he said according to state TV.
"What has happened is bad, unjustifiable and irreparable."
Three police and three protesters were killed in the violence that has transformed a crisis between the island's majority Shi'ites and minority Sunnis into a regional standoff between Sunni Gulf Arab states and non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran.
President Barack Obama called the kings of Saudi Arabia, a strategic ally of Washington in the Middle East, and of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, to urge restraint. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Bahrain and Gulf allies who sent in troops to back the Sunni royals were on the wrong track.
"We find what's happening in Bahrain alarming. We think that there is no security answer to the aspirations and demands of the demonstrators," she told CBS. "They are on the wrong track."
The assault began less than 24 hours after Bahrain declared martial law to quell sectarian unrest that has sucked in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbors Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates .
A member of parliament from the largest Shi'ite opposition group denounced the assault as a war on the Shi'ite community.
"This is war of annihilation. This does not happen even in wars and this is not acceptable," Abdel Jalil Khalil, the head of Wefaq's 18-member parliament bloc, said. "I saw them fire live rounds, in front of my own eyes."
A protest called by the youth movement, which played a leading role in the protest camp at Pearl roundabout, failed to materialize after the military banned all gatherings and imposed a curfew from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. (9 a.m. - 9 p.m. EST) across a large swathe of Manama.
A Reuters witness saw Bahraini tanks move in the direction of Budaya Street, where the protest was set to take place.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman has been in Bahrain since Monday to push for talks to resolve the crisis.
Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites and they complain of discrimination at the hands of the Sunni royal family, the al-Khalifa. Most Shi'ites want a constitutional monarchy but calls by some hardliners for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed the Sunni minority, which fears the unrest serves Iran.
Gulf Arab ruling families are Sunni and analysts say the intervention of their forces in Bahrain might provoke a response from Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Bahrain's crackdown was "unjustifiable and irreparable."
"Today, we witness the degree of pressure imposed on the majority of people in Bahrain," he said according to state TV.
"What has happened is bad, unjustifiable and irreparable."
