Sitra, Mar 16: Bahrain's king declared a three-month state of emergency on Tuesday to quell a Shiite uprising, as clashes spread through the capital and surrounding villages in a showdown that drew in the region's major powers and splintered along its main sectarian fault lines.
At least two Bahrainis and a Saudi soldier died, and hundreds of protesters were injured by shotgun blasts and clubs.
Amateur video accessed by AP Television in London purports to show several men receiving treatment at the Nuwaidrat Hospital in Sitra and armed government troops patrolling the streets.
One demonstrator's back appeared to be covered with wounds from shotgun pellets.
AP Television could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos or still images.
Doctors were overwhelmed by the onslaught of patients at Manama's Salmaniya hospital, rushing the wounded into a packed emergency room, forcing many to wait in the halls.
Nurses held back tears when attending to injured young men, and doctors could barely contain their anger.
Thousands demonstrated on the streets of the capital outside the Saudi Arabia's embassy to protest over 1,000 Saudi-led troops from several Gulf nations entering the country at the request of the royal family to protest the the Sunni monarchy.
The state of emergency in the U.S.-backed regime gives Bahrain's military chief wide authority to battle protesters demanding political reforms and equal rights for the majority Shiites.
At Manama's Pearl Square, the symbolic centre of their revolt, thousands of protesters were still in shock over the arrival of the neighbouring armies when the state of emergency was declared.
Bahrain said more Gulf troops arrived Tuesday.
Opposition leaders have not yet announced their next move.
Tuesday's announcement allows the families and civilians to voluntarily leave Bahrain and go to designated safe havens, mostly in the United States, at government expense.
Bahrain is home to the Navy's 5th Fleet, a key military headquarters in the Gulf region.
The intervention of more than 1,000 Saudi-led troops from several Gulf nations was the first major cross-border military action to challenge one of the revolts sweeping across the Arab world.
The Al Khalifa family has ruled Bahrain for 200 years.
The family enjoys strong backing from other Gulf states and the United States, fearing Iran's expanding influence.
Several of the injured claimed Saudi forces opened fire between A'ali and Buri, two villages south of Manama.
Sheik Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Bahraini Interior Minister, spoke on national television and offered his gratitude to his troops for their "tolerance even if it meant risking their lives and their safety in order to protect others."
Other Gulf leaders have urged Bahrain's king not to give ground, fearing that gains by Bahrain's Shiite Muslims could offer a window for Iran to expand its influence on the Arab side of the Gulf.
Shiites account for 70 percent of the population, but are widely excluded from high-level political or security posts.
The protesters also demand the repeal of a government policy to offset the Shiite demographic advantage by giving citizenship and jobs to Sunnis from other Arab nations and South Asia.
The foreign troops are from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council's Peninsula Shield Force.
The bloc is made up of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - all largely Sunni countries who have nervously watched the Arab world's protests. AP
