Bahraini forces have injured three people after firing tear gas at demonstrators ahead of the anniversary of the popular uprising, an opposition activist said on Saturday.

 

“Three people were severely wounded by tear gas canisters” fired at protesters on Friday, said the source who requested anonymity, AFP reported.

 

Several others suffered from breathing difficulties after inhaling the gas.

 

Protests took off from neighborhoods in Manama as well as from the villages of Duraz, Northen Sehla, Sitra, Sanad, Demistan, Bilad al-Qadeem, Aali, Malikya, Tashan, Maameer, and Adhari, the main opposition formation Al-Wefaq said in statement.

 

Bahraini forces “are excessively using tear gas to punish residents in areas where protests are taking place,” said the opposition activist.

 

Tensions have run high in the Persian Gulf kingdom as the opposition and activists prepare to commemorate the first anniversary of their uprising on Tuesday.

 

Activists have announced plans to march to Manama's former Pearl Square, the focal point of the protest, which was razed after the deadly crackdown.

 

Meanwhile, thousands of Bahrainis joined an opposition-organized protest rally near Manama to demand reform and an end to crackdown on protests. 

 

The demonstration in Miqsha village on Saturday is part of a week-long protest rally organized by the country’s main opposition bloc al-Wefaq and several other parties, which started on February 4, Press TV reported. 

 

Opposition groups have said the protest will continue until February 14, the first anniversary of the popular uprising in Bahrain. 

 

Anti-government protesters have also vowed to march towards the site of Pearl Square, the epicenter of the country's uprising which was razed down last year as part of Manama's crackdown on protests. It is now called Martyr's Square. 

 

Meanwhile, Bahraini activists say regime forces are conducting dawn raids and arresting people in what appeared to be a pre-emptive measure "to prevent any attempt to return" to Pearl Square. 

 

Bahrainis have been calling for an end to the rule of Al Khalifa regime since last year. 

 

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others have been arrested in Manama's brutal crackdown on protesters. 

 

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry issued a report on November 23, 2011, saying that the Manama regime had used “excessive force, including the extraction of forced confessions against detainees.”