Security forces with tanks have overrun a square in the centre of Bahrain’s capital Manama where anti-government protesters have been camped for weeks.
At least three civilians were reportedly killed after police fired on mainly Shia protesters. Officials said three police also died.
Troops have taken over a hospital treating the wounded. Officials have imposed a curfew and banned protests.
The country’s Sunni rulers on Tuesday called in Saudi troops to keep order.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Gulf states were on the “wrong track” in sending in troops to Bahrain.
“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 said in an interview with CBS.
Bahrain’s health minister, himself a Shia, has resigned in protest against the government’s use of force, and the BBC’s Caroline Hawley in Manama says Shia judges have resigned en masse.
Bahrain – which has a population of 800 000 and is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet – is the first Gulf country to be thrown into turmoil by the wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world. Protests there began last month. (BBC)
