Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Regime Attacks

2110 GMT: And now claimed footage of a protest in Damascus in Syria, complaining over the beating of a man by four police officers. A participant claims nearly 1500 people rallied for three hours and chanted, “The Syrian people will not be humiliated,” demanding the immediate release of beaten man with “Let him go! Let him go!” and “There is no God but God.”

2105 GMT: Reports indicate one person was killed and more than two dozen injured in today's clashes in Yemen.

Journalists have been barred from the Al-Naqeeb hospital in Aden in the south of the country, with an estimated 400 guards surrounding the facility.

Video of tonight's anti-regime rally in Aden , just before it was broken up by a pro-Government group:

2055 GMT: Associated Press is reporting that former Minister of Interior Habib El Adly, has been detained on corruption charges.

Arrest warrants have also been issued for two other ministers and key business/political figure Ahmed Ezz.

2040 GMT: Radio Kalima reports that university students in Algeria have effectively shut several campuses through strikes.

2025 GMT: Egyptian State TV is reporting that arrest warrants have been issued the former Ministers of Housing and of Tourism and Ahmed Ezz, the prominent tycoon and former Secretary-General of the National Democratic Party.

2020 GMT: State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley sends this reassurance by Twitter: "Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton spoke today with Bahrain Foreign Minister and expressed deep concern about actions of security forces against peaceful protesters."

1910 GMT: Al-Arabiya is putting the death toll at 19 in Benghazi and Al-Bayda in Libya today.

1905 GMT: More on today's clashes in Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan....

Nine people were killed and 47 were injured when hundreds of protesters clashed with security forces.

Police claimed demonstrators attacked the Kurdistan Democratic Party headquarters, destroying furniture and computers, while witnesses said Kurdish security forces opened fire to disperse the protesters.

Demonstrators were complaining about corruption, the quality of basic services, and unemployment.

Later, there were attacks against buildings of the opposition Gorran Party in Soran, Duhok, and Erbil.

1900 GMT: A big thanks to Ali Yenidunya for keeping up with all the news while I was away today. Now let's see what is still happening this evening....

1730 GMT: Total number of the wounded in Yemen increases to 40. 

1720 GMT: Libyan internal security forces have arrested at least 14 people.

1705 GMT: A picture from the Salmaniyia hospital in Manama in Bahrain where pro-reform demonstrators gathered:

1655 GMT: A video clip from early morning, Libya, showing protesters throwing stones at firefighters.

1650 GMT: At least 10 people have apparently been killed in Libya. It is reported that six people were killed in the Libyan city of Benghazi and four others in the city of al-Baida. In Zenten, south-west of Tripoli, violent clashes are currently taking place between protesters and security forces.

1640 GMT: Ahmed Butaki cries over the body of his brother Mohmoud Butaki, shot by police in Manama.

1630 GMT: The opposition in Bahrain calls for the Government to resign.

1625 GMT: Thousands of people are reported to be on the streets of Benghazi and Tripoli.

1620 GMT: Al Jazeera's correspondent says that three more bodies are being kept in the morgue of Salmaniya hospital in Manama.

1610 GMT:  Over 500 demonstrators in London are reported to be present in front of Libyan Embassy. 

1605 GMT: Ahmed Hashid, an opposition lawmaker in Yemen, told CNN that at least 20 people were injured in clashes.

1600 GMT: An activist (via Twitter) claims that protesters in Libya were getting shot at while they pray. 

1550 GMT: Al-Jazeera's correspondent Alan Fisher reports: "A group of senior clerics in Yemen calls for formation of national unity government to save the country from chaos."

1540 GMT: London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarakrefused to respond to telephone calls from US President Barack Obama because he still felt offended by Obama's statement in which he called on Mubarak "to step down immediately." 

1530 GMT: CNN's reporter (RAGreeneCNN) sends a tweet: "Peshmerga fire on protesters. 9 killed, 47 wounded in Kurdish protest in northern Iraq".

Meanwhile, a car exploded in the central Iraqi town of Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, and killed 13 people.

1515 GMT: Britain's embassy in Bahrain is closed "temporarily".

1510 GMT: An activist (via Twitter) claims that the Libyan government releasing prisoners giving them weapons to kill protestors. Nothing is confirmed yet.

1500 GMT: Al-Jazeera's Bilalr reports via Twitter: "Army in Bahrain enforce ban on any public protests & continue to patrol streets, after protesters in Manama were attacked in pre-dawn raid."

1455 GMT: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the leaders of Bahrain not to use violence against civilians and journalists. He said:

The Arab regimes need to properly respond to the legitimate aspirations of their people. If they make promises, they need to keep them. The Arab people in the streets have been feeling largely neglected. 

1430 GMT: Al Jazeera's White House correspondent in Washington DC says that senior US administration officials will be placing calls to their counterparts in Bahrain today urging restraint.

1425 GMT: Egypt's opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei writes on Twitter: "Cancel the emergency law + freedom to form political parties + a transitional period for one year = all of the requirements of free and fair elections for all representative of the people's forces."

1420 GMT: Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan described Bahrain as a "long-time ally" and "important partner".

1410 GMT: Al-Jazeera's Dima Khatib reports that Libyans are chanting "People Want the Regime to Fall!"

1400 GMT: An activist (via Twitter) claims that some Libyan security officers refuse to fight protesters & support regime change. Another activist claims that six people were killed in Benghazi today. however, AFP reports that only four demonstrators were killed.

1355 GMT: The total number of injured in Yemen increased to 12.

1350 GMT: An activist (via Twitter) reports that protestors are gathering in Benghazi and clashes with security forces began. There are also unconfirmed reports that demonstrators are gathering in Tripoli.

1340 GMT: Al-Jazeera's Dima Khatip says that police reported to be using live ammunition in Aden, Yemen, to disperse anti-regime protests.

1335 GMT: RAGreenCNN (via twitter) reports what Shia opposition leader tells CNN: "Security forces who cracked down in Bahrain were from Pakistan; didn't even speak Arabic."

1330 GMT: An activist (via twitter) reports: "Demonstration by people and nurses around salmaniya complex. Now thousands of people here."

1315 GMT: Bahrain military command has issued "Communique #1", Telling protestors not to protest.

"The army would take every measure necessary to preserve security", the interior ministry said.

1310 GMT: More security forces are being sent to Bayda, Libya. 

1300 GMT: The BBC's Rana Jawad says drivers in Tripoli, Libya "raise their fists and honk their horns " to support Libyan Leader.

1255 GMT: Is U.S. military base in Bahrain a source of concern for Washington? 

US navy officials have said there is no sign that crowds intend to direct their hostility toward the roughly 4,200 service members who live and work there. "The protests are not directed at the US military presence," Jennifer Stride, a spokeswoman for US Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain, told the Stars and Stripes, the official paper of the US armed forces.

1250 GMT: Arab foreign ministers of the Gulf monarchies are to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday in Manama, said Bahrain's Foreign Ministry. 

"The Gulf Cooperation Council states are expected to announce their support for the (Bahraini) government in security, defence and politically," said a ministry spokesman.

1245 GMT: At least one dead and fourteen injured in Libya, Human Rights Watch reports.

1240 GMT: The Amnesty International claims that the total number of deaths from last night in Bahrain is six.

1235 GMT: Interior Ministry spokesman on state tv in Bahrain: "The army has told people to avoid central areas of Manama."

1230 GMT: Hundreds in Basra, Iraq, demand provincial governor's ouster; angry protesters also set fire to municipal building in Nasir. 

1215 GMT: Like nothing happened in Pearl Roundabout, Bahrain.

1200 GMT: Reuters reports that the main Shi'ite bloc is to quit Bahrain's Parliament.

1135 GMT: BBC reports that more than 1,000 people are taking part in the protests in Ramallah, making it the biggest demonstration on the West Bank in the past two weeks.

1130 GMT: Leader of oppisition Waad Party in Bahrain, Ibrahim Sharif, calls for resignation of Government.

1120 GMT: An activist (ShababLibya - through tweets) says that electricity is cut off and internet is down in West Libya. For the time being, "no protests officially begun, people are forming into small groups across the city."

1110 GMT: Thousands of protestors and supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed. Another picture is coming from Rabat Street, Yemen.

1105: We have received shocking pictures of two of the dead in Bahrain. The images are too graphic for publication.

1100 GMT: A picture is showing paramedics beaten in Bahrain. The New York Times's Nickolas Kristof confirms: "About 10 ambulance paramedics attacked by police. I interviewed them, saw their injuries."

 

1055 GMT: France's Le Monde reports that the deposed Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had a stroke and is in a coma.

1050 GMT: Spokesperson of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton's statement on Bahrain:

High Representative Catherine Ashton has been closely following the events taking place in Bahrain. She is very concerned by the events which took place overnight.

The High Representative strongly deplores the loss of life and violence and calls for calm and restraint in this situation. She also calls on the Bahraini authorities to fully respect and protect the fundamental rights of their citizens, including the right to assemble peacefully.

The peaceful expression of people's concerns should be met through dialogue.

1040 GMT: EA's Josh Mull reports Bahrain Military Spokesman's statement on state TV: "The military is on the streets to protect citizens & property."

1035 GMT: The New York Times's Nickolas Kristof writes: "Nurse told me she saw handcuffed prisoner beaten by police, then executed with gun." He continued: "One Bahraini ambulance driver told me a Saudi army officer held gun to his head, said wld kill him if helped injured."

1030 GMT: CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom says: "In Western San'a, clashes broke out between pro and anti-govt demonstrators. Both sides throwing rocks. Saw at least one injured."

0950 GMT: Images from Salmaniya Hospital.

0920 GMT: It is reported that Nazar Al-Bahrnah, Bahrain's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Abdullah Al Durazi, who had been tasked with overseeing a national reconciliation committee, both gave their resignationtoday.

According to Al-Jazeera, Bahrain's Minister of Health, Dr. Faisal Al Hamar, has reportedly resigned from his post in protest over police crackdown, this claim has been denied by the health ministry. 

0915 GMT: Al-Jazeera reports that the number of deaths in Bahrain increased to five.

0907 GMT: Amira Al Hussaini reports that American ABC News's Miguel Marquez has been attacked, CNN cameras were confiscated at the airport.

0905 GMT: AFP's Angie Nassar says fierce clashes erupted in Sanaa Thursday between Yemeni anti-government protesters and regime loyalists which left five people injured.

SaqerAlKhalifa, a supporter of the Bahraini regime, asserts, "If, as claimed, there were 3000 protesters cleared, 3 dead, that's 99.999% efficiency by police. Still, need 100%, is it ever achievable?"

0900 GMT: Another picture from this morning showing a protester in pain.

0855 GMT: Bahrain Human Rights Group (via twitter) stated that another two dead bodies found in Qufool. The Guardian also says that the death tool of today has risen at least to four. The fourth person's name is Hussein Zayed.

0850 GMT: The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof says that "many in Bahrain outraged that the King used mercenaries--Pakistani, Indian, Syrian riot police--to attack Bahrainis."

0815 GMT: Al Jazeera from Bahrain "Doctors at the hospital say that they had set up a medical tent close to the unrest,and they were also beaten by police officers."

0810 GMT: Al Jazeera reports from Bahrain, "The armoured vehicles are securing the capital's main highway to the airport as well as the highway to the Saudi border."

0800 GMT: There are reports that doctors and nurses at Salmaniyia Hospital are calling for the resignation of the Minister of Health as no ambulances available for casualties from the Pearl Roundabout assault.

0725 GMT: Dozens of military vehicles, including tanks, are now established in Bahrain's capital Manama:

0710 GMT: A third person, Isa Abdulhasan from Karzakkan, has reportedly died in the police assault on Pearl Roundabout in Bahrain.

Security have sealed off the roundabout, but clashes continue in the centre of the capital Manama.

0610 GMT: Protesters in Bahrain, trying to reach Pearl Roundabout --- the site of this morning's attack --- from the main hospital, have been turned back. They reportedly could not get within 2 km (1.25 miles) of the roundabout.

Reports are coming in of police use of tear gas around the hospital.

0540 GMT: Reuters is carrying the report, which we picked up on social media, that more than 50 armoured vehicles are in or en route to the capital Manama in Bahrain.

A few ambulances, finally allowed to go to the site of the attack at Pearl Roundabout, are returning with injured. There is an unconfirmed report of another two dead.

0535 GMT: Before this morning's police assault in Bahrain, we were expecting to focus on Libya, where protesters have called for a "Day of Rage".

Even before today's planned actions, there were demonstrations in Benghazi and Al-Bayda, Libya's second- and third-largest cities, and the burning of police outposts in Al-Bayda and Zantan in the south of the country. At least two people were killed in Al-Bayda.

0525 GMT: Protesters who re-grouped outside the main hospital in Bahrain have now set off on foot to collect more wounded from Pearl Roundabout.

Reuters reports, from a witness, that more than a dozen tanks, several military trucks, and military ambulances are now on a central street in the capital Manama. Police with shotguns and tear gas launchers are manning checkpoints

0520 GMT: Before the assault on the protesters in Bahrain, Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifahad said, as he chaired a meeting, "Any violation or attempt to cause instability and insecurity will invite legal action. We live in a country of institutions and all our agencies function in accordance with the law."

The Prime Minister continued, "Those who want national dialogue can do so under the dome of parliament," and hailed King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's order to form a committee to investigate recent developments. He also praised reforms project to the scope of liberties, anchor democracy, and promote the rule of the law and institutions.

0517 GMT: A photograph of a tank moving towards its position, reportedly in the capital Manama, in Bahrain:

0500 GMT: There are reports and pictures that military units, including tanks, are making their way to the capital Manama.

0450 GMT: We wake this morning to find that, before dawn, riot police attacked the protest camp at the Pearl Roundabout, killing at least two demonstrators and injuring dozens.

Hundreds of police, armed with tear gas, rubber bullets and clubs, stormed the roundabout as protesters slept.

Maryama Alkawaka of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights said she saw dozens of injured demonstrators brought into the emergency room at Salmaniyia Hospital. Hundreds of people gathered at the hospital are chanting against the ruling family, "Down with Al-Khalifa", and declaring the blood of the victims will not be split in vain.

The Ministry of Interior has issued a statement calling on Bahrainis "to follow the constitution and the law while expressing their freedom of expression, and to show patriotism and concerns for the interests of the country".