Bloody Thursday () is the name given by Bahraini protesters to 17 February 2011, the fourth day of the Bahraini uprising as part of the Arab Spring. Bahraini security forces launched a pre-dawn raid to clear Pearl Roundabout in Manama of the protesters camped there, most of whom were at the time asleep in tents; four were killed and about 300 injured. The event led some to demand even more political reform than they had previously sought, calling for an end to the reign of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
The clearance was described by witnesses as being brutal and sudden. Clouds of tear gas covered the area, and volleys of birdshot were fired on those who refused to withdraw. Medics, ambulances and a journalist were reportedly attacked as well. Sporadic clashes broke out around Bahrain hours after the raid. During the afternoon the National Guard and army deployed armoured vehicles, tanks, more than 50 armoured personnel carriers and set up checkpoints in streets across the country. Protesters then took refuge at Salmaniya Medical Complex and continued their agitations; thousands of them chanted "Down with the king, down with the government."
The Bahraini government accused protesters of attacking the security forces, 50 of whom sustained injuries, and insisted that action had been necessary to pull Bahrain back from the "brink of a sectarian abyss". But opposition parties dismissed the government's account as a "silly play", described the raid as a "heinous massacre" and submitted their resignations from the lower house of Parliament.
Internationally, the Gulf Cooperation Council Ministers of Foreign Affairs expressed their solidarity with the government of Bahrain and their support for the measures taken. The United Nations, the European Union and the United States on the other hand expressed their deep concern and regret for the violence used against protesters. The United Kingdom government announced that in light of the unrest it would revoke some arms export licences to Bahrain. A number of international rights groups and independent observers criticised the government crackdown.
Background
The events were part of a string of protests that occurred across the Arab world following the self-immolation and eventual death of Mohammed Bouazizi in Tunisia, the majority Shia population of Bahrain, as well as some Sunni Muslims, took to the streets demanding reforms. Al Jazeera reported that a protest was planned for 14 February, just a few months after the controversial 2010 election.
On 14 February (referred to as Day of Rage by protest organisers), about 6,000 people took part in many protests around Bahrain demanding the release of previously detained protesters, socio-economic justice, political reform and a constitutional monarchy. Police then attacked the protesters throughout the day, using tear gas, rubber bullets and shotguns, inflicting many injuries and causing the hospitalisation of four demonstrators. In the evening, Ali Mushaima died from police shotgun wounds to his back at close range. The next day, thousands of mourners attended his funeral. During the ceremony police shot Fadhel Al-Matrook in the back at close range; he died from his wounds within an hour. People were then allowed to march to and occupy Pearl Roundabout, where they began to set up tents; the number of demonstrators had swelled to 10,000 people by nightfall. King Hamad offered his condolences for the two deaths and announced the establishment of a committee to investigate the events of the previous two days. In total, 25 people were said to have been injured on 15 February.
By 16 February, Pearl Roundabout was still occupied by thousands of protesters. Some of those present at the scene described the mood at the roundabout as "festive," with protesters distributing tea, coffee and food while discussing the situation in the country. Opposition political figures such as Ali Salman and Abdulwahab Hussain also addressed the crowds gathered at the roundabout. Elsewhere in the country a funeral procession was held for Fadhel Al-Matrook, while a motorcade of about 100 cars with supporters of King Hamad passed without police interference.
The Ministry of Interior then announced that the gathering at Pearl Roundabout was illegal and that it was only tolerated as a display of sympathy in the wake of recent events. King Hamad visited the Bahrain Defence Force headquarters, where he met its Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Khalifa bin Ahmad and other senior military officers. Together they reviewed "the preparations undertaken by the Defence Force to protect the security of the homeland and to maintain the safety of citizens."
Naming
In Bahrain, especially among the organising activists, the day police stormed the roundabout was posthumously referred to as Bahrain Bloody Thursday; some doctors also referred to it as Black Thursday; while other opposition members have called it a massacre.
Raid
In a pre-dawn raid, at about 3:00 on 17 February, around 1,000 police were dispatched to clear the Pearl Roundabout of an estimated 1,500–3,000 individuals staying overnight in tents. According to the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, police were armed with sticks, shields, sound bombs, tear gas and shotguns. They moved on protesters from two directions, the flyover north of Pearl Roundabout and Noaim, south of the roundabout. In addition, personnel from NSA and BDF were onsite.
Eyewitness and journalist accounts
According to eyewitnesses, the raid was sudden and without warning and many sleeping protesters, including women and children, were awoken by the sounds of tear gas and stun grenades. Armed plainclothes policemen arrived in more than 100 civilian cars and started breaking into tents before the uniformed officers started shooting. The police carried knives, which they used to slice through tents, before beating women and men inside and firing on some people with bird-shot shotguns. Clouds of tear gas covered Pearl Roundabout that "one could not see surroundings," according to one witness.
Maryam Alkhawaja of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights said: "The attack was very violent, [the police] were not showing any mercy." An unnamed injured protester told the local independent newspaper Al-Wasat he was within a group of protesters who were awake and that they chanted "peaceful ... peaceful" before being attacked by police who reportedly stole his wallet, camera and mobile phone after beating and dragging him with a rope. Another injured protester described how women and children were running all over the place; even after withdrawing to nearby villages, police still pursued protesters and arrested "large numbers" of them. Other eyewitnesses said police searched the cars parked around Pearl Roundabout, damaging some of them.
Yet another injured protesters said: "They had encircled us and they kept shooting tear gas and live rounds. The circle got closer and closer." Some witnesses claimed the police used anti-Shia curses during their attacks on the mainly Shia protesters. Medics who arrived at Pearl Roundabout said they saw police stamping on handcuffed protesters who laid on the ground. A nurse said she saw a group of police "execute" a young protester with a gun at "point-blank range" after handcuffing and beating him.
ABC News reporter Miguel Marquez said he was beaten by men carrying clubs while he was making a phone call report. "There was a canister that looked like – No! No! No! Hey! I'm a journalist here! I'm going! I'm going! I'm going! I'm going! ... I'm hit." Then, in an attempt to show he was not a protester, Marquez yelled "Journalist, journalist!," yet he reported getting hit multiple times and that his camera was stolen. He described the plainclothes police who reportedly attacked him as a "gang of thugs," who wanted to clear the square before planned protests following Friday prayers.
Health worker accounts A medical volunteer said that despite showing their identification cards police attacked ten medics at the roundabout who had offered their services.
For eight hours Health Minister Faisal al-Hamar prevented ambulances going to the assistance of those injured at Pearl Roundabout. Doctors and paramedics protested inside Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC); while still doing their best to help the wounded, medics signed a petition and formed a human chain calling for his resignation for "blocking ambulances from going to help those injured in Pearl Roundabout." They claimed that he told doctors at the hospital of his resignation before leaving. However, he later rejected that claim.
Despite the block, Salmaniya Medical Complex's disaster plan was activated on the morning of the attack. It called for more than a dozen ambulances to search nearby areas and Pearl Roundabout. Another dozen ambulances were put on stand-by, according to a member of the medical staff. The staff said that ambulances were functioning in accordance with the plan until about 6:00 am, when an alleged call from the Ministry of Interior ordered all but two ambulances to head back to the SMC. However, this order was ignored and more ambulances were sent to search for the injured in the areas surrounding the roundabout.
About five ambulances reached Pearl Roundabout, where they were confronted by police and army forces; three drivers and nine paramedics were attacked. One of the injured drivers claimed that police had clubbed him and that a senior officer had told him: "If I see you again, I'll kill you." Another ambulance driver, who was unharmed, said that police removed injured protesters from his vehicle by force and a military officer – whom he believed to be a Saudi, based on his Arabic dialect – held a gun to his head and warned him to drive away or be shot. One ambulance was reportedly confiscated by police, who then took it to an unknown location after beating its driver and other paramedics, who had to walk back to the SMC.
A paramedic also said police allowed the first ambulances that reached Pearl Roundabout to pass safely, while some security personnel captured videos, but when the ambulances moved out carrying casualties security forces had targeted the vehicles. He said: "Later Bahrain T.V. showed only the scenes where they allowed us to pass in order to mislead the public opinion. I personally heard orders given to security forces via their communication devices to target, threat and delay paramedics as long as they can. Security forces dealt with us as if we were defendants and partners to protesters who wanted to hide them, whereas what we were doing was a professional and humane duty that has nothing to do with our political position." When the block was lifted in the late morning till noon, paramedics did not find any casualties to take back to the SMC at Pearl Roundabout, despite seeing handcuffed protesters being stomped on by police when they arrived.
Government accounts
The government account of the incident indicated that police, using a megaphone, had ordered protesters to evacuate the area and that some had done so, whereas others remained in defiance of the law. It added that police only intervened after exhausting all opportunities for dialogue and that lethal shots were fired only at armed protesters who attacked police officers. Security forces reported finding pistols, bullets, large quantities of knives, daggers, swords and other sharp objects, as well as Hezbollah flags at the site.