SHAFAQNA – Saudi security forces continue their siege al-Awamiyah, as intense shelling and gunfire is wreaking havoc on the Shiite-populated town in the eastern province of Qatif.
Reports indicate the regime forces shot dead the child while he was moving with his family near Awamiyah. The child’s mother was also critically injured in the attack.
Awamiyah was the home of outspoken Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a high ranking Shiite scholar who was unjustly hanged in January last year for demanding the legitimate rights of the region’s residents.
Saudi regime forces resumed their shelling campaign on the residential neighborhoods in Al-Mosara District, forcing many civilians to frantically abandon their homes in order to avoid the indiscriminate attacks.
Al Saud regime rages on with its two-week-long crackdown on minority Shiite population, as no international power or organization raises it voice in support of over 30,000 people living inside Al-Awamiyah. Feeling hapless and disappointed with any foreign help some people were reportedly forced to some people to take up arms and fight off the soldiers besieging their neighborhoods.
To justify its deadly clampdown on its own people, the Saudi regime has accused Al-Awamiyah people of being terrorist.
The Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since the start of a popular Islamic uprising in February 2011. Protesters have been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the oil-rich region. The Saudi regime has responded to the protests with an iron fist with regime forces attacking civilians amid a repressive crackdown on dissent.