Bahraini security forces appear to be tightening their siege on Diraz by deploying additional concrete barriers around the country\u2019s northwestern village on Monday.<\/p>\n
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Bahraini security forces appear to be tightening their siege on Diraz by deploying additional concrete barriers around the country\u2019s northwestern village on Monday.<\/p>\n
The structures normally used for military fortifications reinforced the already existing barriers and barbed wire in and around Diraz.<\/p>\n
Earlier activists posted images online showing concrete barriers being placed across the Bahraini village of Adhari, which has also been cordoned off by security forces for years.<\/p>\n
Rights groups have described these so-called \u2018security\u2019 measures as the collective punishment of the local population \u2013 the majority of which opposes the ruling elites.<\/p>\n
Diraz\u2019s 30,000 residents have been subjected to an unprecedented lockdown since rising up in support of Bahrain\u2019s highest religious authority, Sheikh Isa Qassim.<\/p>\n
On May 23, security forces launched a bloody attack on a peaceful sit-in near the cleric\u2019s home, killing five protesters and placing Sheikh Qassim under house arrest.<\/p>\n
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Bahraini security forces appear to be tightening their siege on Diraz by deploying additional concrete barriers around the country\u2019s northwestern village on Monday. \u00a0 \u00a0 Bahraini security forces appear to be tightening their siege on Diraz by deploying additional concrete barriers around the country\u2019s northwestern village on Monday. The structures normally used for military fortifications …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[54,867,951],"class_list":["post-4677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islam","tag-bahrain","tag-diraz","tag-siege"],"yoast_head":"\n