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politicsAt least two pro-reform protesters were killed and dozens were injured as hundreds of Bahraini riot police, armed with tear gas, rubber bullets and clubs stormed the main square in the capital as protesters slept.
The pre-dawn assault on Pearl Roundabout, which has become the focal point for protesters demanding reform, was meant to disperse the crowd and regain control of the area.
Nazea Saeed, a journalist with Radio Monte Carlo, said hundreds of people gathered at the hospital where the victims of the police attack are treated.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from the scene, she said the crowd is chanting: "Down with Al-Khalifa", in reference to the country's kingdom.
"People are also chanting that the blood of the victims will not be in vein," she added.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Salmaniya hospital, the main medical facility in Manama, Maryama Alkawaka of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, said that she saw dozens of injured demonstrators being wheeled into emergency rooms.
'Protesters attacked'
"People were attacked while they were sleeping. There was no warning," she said. "And when they ran, the police attacked them from the direction they fled to."More
Bahrain authorities launch surprise attack on protestersTear gas canisters bombard sleeping protesters in Manama's Pearl Square. At least two men are reported killed by rubber bullets.
The demands of protesters have grown over three days, with the crowd torn between those who want constitutional reforms and others who now say openly that they want the family of the king to step down.
Bahrain's protest movement appears to be largely leaderless, although medical and media centers have been organized by the demonstrators. Some credit the use of Facebook, Twitterand blogs with providing a forum for activists to trade ideas and promote the rally.
Before Thursday's crackdown, the unrest in Bahrain had emerged as among the most potent anti-government movements in a string of sometimes lethal demonstrations sweeping the Middle East, importing the lessons of NorthAfrica's recent uprisings into the oil-rich Persian Gulf region.
The successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have become models for a daily phenomenon in places such as Yemen and Bahrain. With new marches planned in several other countries over the next several days, including Morocco and Libya, governments from North Africa to the gulf were settling in for what looks to be an extended period of instability.
One of the more volatile fronts is Libya. Anti-government protests erupted in several towns there Wednesday, with reports of police stations torched in Qubbah, Zentan and Baida, and overnight clashes in Benghazi on Tuesday.
The most serious reports of violence in Libya remained unconfirmed because the government of Moammar Kadafiimposes heavy restrictions on the operation of journalists.
Opposition activists reported on social media that police had opened fire with live ammunition on demonstrators in Baida and Benghazi. At least five people reportedly died in the violence Wednesday, which broke out a day before major street demonstrations were planned for the North African nation.
Street fighting in Benghazi began Tuesday night, when protesters gathered in response to the arrest of a well-known human rights lawyer became agitated at reports of a fire inside Abu Selim military prison. Many outside the prison were awaiting the release of family members, said Libyan journalist Fatthi Ben Eissa in a telephone interview.
"It started out with a few tens of families. That became 300 demonstrators in a few minutes, and very quickly escalated to 2,000," said Mohammed Ali Abdallah, deputy secretary general of the exiled opposition group the National Front for the Salvation of Libya.
Protest organizers have called for a "Day of Rage" across Libya on Thursday.
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