Bahrain Special: An Election Day Overtaken by Protest, Violence, and Fires

Protesters and police in Sanabis, Bahrain on Saturday

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The Bahraini regime had hoped to present stability and democracy on Saturday, with by-elections for 14 seats vacated by the opposition party Al Wefaq in March in protest at the crackdown on demonstrations for reform.

The regime may still be able to do so with the numbers for a high turnout, whether in reality or in generated numbers. But by last night, the press releases and photographs of Bahrainis lining up to vote had been overtaken by another, less stable, less democratic narrative.

That narrative was of security forces trying --- and failing --- to suppress protest on Election Day. While there was little sign of dissent in the capital Manama, the heavy presence of police could not lock down near-by villages, despite closing off entrances and setting up roadblocks in areas such as Sanabis, close to the capital:

The skirmishes started in the afternoon, particuarly in Sanabis. Tear gas and sound grenades were thrown, and police pursued protesters who took refuge in buildings.

Already on Friday, with the resurgence of demonstrations, there had been a controversial incident when a house was set alight --- whether from police throwing a sound grenade into the building or from "rioters" exploding a gas canister is still disputed (see Saturday's LiveBlog) --- seriously injuring seven people. Now the situation escalated, with houses on fire throughout Sanabis.

Protesters claim police were setting the fires, either accidentally with more tear gas canisters and sound grenades or on purpose to "smoke out" demonstrators who could then be identified and detained. The State news agency put out the notice, "MOI reports house fire in Sanabis from a clash between security forces & rioters with molotov cocktails. Firemen & police are on the scene." There is evidence from EA sources for all these possibilities.

#MOI reports house fire in Sanabis from a clash between security forces & rioters with molotov cocktails. Firemen & police are on the scene 

Whatever the cause, some people were trying to extinguish the fires last night, some were watching, and others were in the running battle with police.

An EA source wrote:

It's Like a hit an run situation. Protesters gets out in the villages allies, reaching few hundreds until police force attack by teargas, rubber bullets, and stun grandades (one exploded just next to me). Now am in a house, seems I'll spend the night here.

And it was not just Sanabis --- we had videos and reports throughout Saturday from villages like Jidhafs and Bilad-Alqadim, where this footage shows police arriving in an attempt to contain any opposition:

One incident, relatively minor in comparison with others, puts a sharp footnote on the day. In this video from Al Musalla, police strike and vandalise cars:

Last night Bahrain's Information Affairs Authority put out a note, "MOI reports officers were suspended for an incident yesterday involving damaging a car."