The perpetrators had converted the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) into a command and planning center during the protests, according to the Interior Minister, Lieutenant General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa.
The Minister asserted that Bahrain’s success to resist the crisis it underwent is owed to the one-decade royal reform project of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
He said the reform process was on going and there was no need for the violence which erupted in Bahrain recently unveiling the foreign agenda behind it.
“We did not wish to have any victim-civilian, military or any of those who took part in the subversive and violent acts. Yet, regrettably, the insistence of some to transgress the law and create chaos has resulted in the death of four security officers, seven civilians and 13 protesters. Overall 391 security officers and 56 citizens and expatriates were also injured in the events while 4 other security officers were abducted and tortured,” Shaikh Rashid revealed while addressing the Parliament on Tuesday.
The Minister affirmed that, contrary to what has been claimed by some people who were trying to justify their misdeeds, the measures taken were not sectarian but were intended against law offenders and have nothing to do with ethnic cleansing.
He explained that what happened recently was part of plots of foreign interference and affiliation citing statements by Iranian officials and Hizbollah Secretary General as well as attempts by some satellite channels belonging to these parties to ignite sedition and anarchy by disseminating rumours and fallacies.
He said what happened at the Pearl Roundabout and the tactics and strategies used by protesters including setting up tents and barricades, hijacking hospitals, encircling Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation headquarters as well as vital government establishments, ways of attacking citizens’ homes and distributing roles on various cells are all evidences on connection with Hizbollah and its training methods.
“Salmaniya Medical Complex was used as a command and planning centre. For one month the hospital had been occupied by the outlaws and what was happening inside was criminal and not medical as some workers were detained and some patients were maltreated. Documents seized also revealed irregularities and falsification of medical files by nurses and officials responsible for admission of patients,” Shaikh Rashid said adding that leading figures and troublemakers were arrested inside the hospital which was thoroughly inspected for any existing danger.