Bahrani troops have attacked people protesting the Al Khalifa regime security forces’ storming of a prominent cleric’s home, amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent.

On Tuesday, the regime’s forces used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse protesters gathered on the streets of Diraz and Sadad, denouncing the raid on the house of Shia cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Ahmed Qassem on Saturday.

Witnesses said the regime forces took photos of the ID cards of all those present in the house in Diraz, west of the capital Manama.

The regime’s recent move, which has also been condemned by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, happened just days after people voted in an alternative election held by the main opposition parties of Bahrain.

The opposition had boycotted the parliamentary elections which were held with a low turnout on the same day across the tiny kingdom.

On November 22, some 350,000 eligible Bahrainis went to the polls to choose 40 legislators from among 266 mostly Sunni candidates. A second round of voting will be held next Saturday.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the royal family to give up power.

Bahrain has been severely criticized by human rights groups for its harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters which has claimed the lives of scores of people so far.