Bahrain’s security forces have attacked pro-democracy protesters holding a demonstration against the death of an anti-regime activist.

The Saudi-backed forces clashed with the demonstrators after surrounding them in the village of Daih in the west of the capital, Manama, on Wednesday.

The forces used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the peaceful protest.

The demonstration was held to condemn the death of Jaffer al-Durazi, 23, who died at hospital the day before. Durazi, who was in the Al Khalifa regime’s custody since December 2013, was suffering from sickle-cell anemia and died because of torture and lack of medical treatment.

The Bahraini activist was admitted to hospital on February 19.

“He told us he had been subjected to electrical shocks while they questioned him,” one of Durazi’s relatives said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, violence reportedly broke out in some other parts of the tiny Persian Gulf state, leaving several protesters injured.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.

On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on peaceful protesters.

According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested.

Physicians for Human Rights says doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or disappeared because they have “evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police” in the crackdown on anti-government protesters.

NT/MHB/SS