ammunition into the crowd and beat protesters with batons and butts of guns. Bahrain's interior ministry said eight police were injured during the operation to disperse protesters, including removing tents. A Pakistani construction worker, Irfan Muhammad suffered serious brain injuries after he was allegedly brutally assaulted and had his tongue cut out by anti-government protesters. A licensed Bahraini nurse reported treating five patients at the Salmaniya Medical Complex for gas inhalation on the night of 13 March. She reported that the patients' symptoms were consistent with nerve gas. A primary care physician at a different hospital reported to Physicians for Human Rights reported that the medical center where she worked treated 26 patients for birdshot wounds and gas inhalation, also on 13 March. On 14 March, the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), a six-nation regional grouping which includes Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates agreed to send troops of the Peninsula Shield Force to guard key facilities, such as oil and gas installations and financial institutions, at the request of the Bahraini government. About 4,000 Saudi Arabian troops arrived, to be followed by 500 UAE police. The Saudi troops arrived in around 150 armoured vehicles and 50 other lightly armoured vehicles. The Bahraini government said that they had requested the troops "to look at ways to help them to defuse the tension in Bahrain.". Some of the Bahraini opposition said this "amounted to an occupation." There was also opposition to the troops arriving only twenty four hours after bloody clashes between the protesters and the police. Other reports claimed the protesting Shi'ite faction called it war, reflecting a split within the opposition. The Crown Prince is holding talks with the opposition about reform. The US has called for restraint, but has made no comment about whether it supports these troops, while Iran has denounced the use of troops from neighbouring Gulf Arab states as "unacceptable", prompting Bahrain to recall its ambassador to Iran in protest at Tehran's "blatant interference" in its internal affairs, according to the state news agency. On 15 March, the king of Bahrain declared a three-month state of emergency, authorising the nation's armed forces chief to take all measures to "protect the safety of the country and its citizens". Despite this, clashes between anti-government demonstrators and security forces continued, leaving at least two people dead and as many as 200 injured. There were