Beginning in February 2011 , Bahrain saw sustained pro-democracy protests , centered at Pearl Roundabout in the capital of Manama , as part of the wider Arab Spring . Authorities responded with a night raid on 17 February ( later known as Bloody Thursday ) , which left four protesters dead and more than 300 injured . Protests continued for a month reaching over 100,000 participants in a nation of about 500,000 citizens , until more than a thousand troops and police from the Gulf Cooperation Council arrived at the request of government and a three-month state of emergency was declared . Authorities then cracked down on the protests . However , smaller-scale protests and clashes continued to occur almost daily , mostly in areas outside Manama 's business districts , with some rare marches in the center of the capital city . As of April 2012 , more than 80 people had died since the start of the uprising and as of January 2013 , near-daily clashes between protesters and police are ongoing
Bloody Thursday
Bahrain Bloody Thursday
Nabeel Rajab