Reports say thousands of pro-democracy protesters, chanting “victory, victory,” have forced out police and snipers from a central square in the Bahraini capital, Manama.
Thousands have start marching towards Pearl Square, which has become the symbol of the ongoing revolutionary movement.
Protesters returned to the epicenter of demonstrations shortly after riot police fired teargas and shotgun rounds before leaving, Maryam Khawaja with the Bahrain Center for Human Rights told Press TV.
Live footage show that protesters are removing roadblocks and barbed wire barricade from main roads reaching the square.
Khawaja said protesters were in high spirits and chanted slogans like 'victory, victory.'
Protesters have vowed to stand firm despite the deadly crackdown that left several people dead and hundreds of others wounded in Manama over the past days.
"We don't fear death any more, let the army come and kill us to show the world what kind of savages they are," Reuters quoted one woman, teacher Umm Mohammed, quoted as saying.
Earlier in the day, Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa ordered military vehicles to withdraw from the streets and deployed police in their place.
Meanwhile, the Bahraini king called for national dialogue, but the offer was rejected by the main opposition bloc, Al-Wefaq, which says the government must resign and troops must withdraw from the streets first.
On Friday, Bahrain witnessed its biggest-ever protest in recent history. Bahraini troops opened fire on protesters in what was described as a “massacre” by medics and lawmakers.
The crackdown has left six people dead and hundreds more wounded.
The Bahraini government has violently suppressed the demonstrators demanding an end to monarchy.
JR/HGH/MMN
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