Alwaght-The Saudi regime has is engaged in renewed attacks against a besieged town in the kingdom’s Shiite-populated Qatif district of the Eastern Province, killing at least one person and inflicting damage on local houses.
Several video clips have been shared on social media websites showed Saudi regime forces, equipped with heavy weapons, waging a new offensive against Awamiyah, located some 390 kilometers northeast of the capital, Riyadh.
In the renewed crackdown, Saudi regime’s armed forces have completely destroyed or partially damaged several homes, business and historical buildings during shelling al-Jamima neighborhood and al-Mosara, the old quarter of the town of Awamiyah.
Saudi forces also killed a local Shiite Muslim as Mohsen el-Aojami lost his life by shooting him several times.
Saudi regime forces have imposed a siege on the region by blocking the main highways and while restricting the movement of local citizens.
An atmosphere of fear prevails in the region with many residents being forced to stay indoors as the regime has deployed snipers across the entire region.
The Riyadh regime forces in riot gear have also set up barricades and security checkpoint to prevent people from organizing any gathering or protest rally.
Local residents complain that police deployed at the checkpoints are snatching and stealing their personal belongings. In a bid to prevent news of the brutal crackdown spreading to the outside world, Saudi authorities also shut down internet and mobile services across the area. Awamiyah town is now virtually besieged by Saudi regime forces conducting a brutal operation against residents of the region where no journalists are allowed. The developments come as a fierce crackdown on protesters there enters its 76th day.
Saudi forces started their brutal attack on Awamiyah town on May 10, using helicopter gunships and heavy weapons. The Saudi regime claims the aim of the raid is to allow ‘renovation’ of the historic al-Mosara neighborhood to make way for a planned a new project.
Awamiyah, a town of 30,000 in the Shiite Muslim-majority Qatif district in the Eastern Saudi province, was the home of 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.
The residents of Awamiyah are actually facing some sort of collective punishment by the Saudi regime for being the home of martyred Sheikh Nimr and the current crackdown is also meant serve as a warning to other Saudis especially Shiites.
The planned "renovation" of the historic 400-year old al-Mosara district has been highly controversial. In April, the United Nations called on the Saudi government to halt the project, warning that it threatened "the historical and cultural heritage of the town with irreparable harm".
