More than 120 protesters have been wounded in clashes with police in Bahrain this week, activists said on Wednesday, and a top opposition figure said the government had put out feelers about talks to resolve the Gulf state's year-long crisis. Activists using the name "February 14 Youth Coalition" called for more demonstrations a day after protests to mark the first anniversary of a violently suppressed pro-democracy uprising with Sunni-Shia sectarian overtones.
There were clashes in Musalla near Manama and the flashpoint town of Sitra, and police were arresting people in house to house raids in Sanabis, a Shia village on the edge of the capital, and Budaiya, a district outside Manama. "There were over 100 cases on Tuesday and 37 of them are bad, with head injuries and fractures," said a medic who works with researchers of an international organisation and asked not to be identified. "On Monday we had 20 people (wounded) in villages around the country."
The medic said some casualties had been hit by birdshot, which Bahraini police deny using. Most of the wounded are treated in village homes or private health clinics because protesters from the Shia majority fear they will be arrested if they go to hospitals run by the government, which is appointed by the Sunni monarchy.