Saudi security forces shot one person dead and injured three others during what the country's state news agency described as "clashes" in the oil-producing Eastern Province. Activists and witnesses said Friday's casualties came when security forces opened fire on an anti-government demonstration in the Qatif district.
"While security men were following up on an illegal gathering in the town of Awwamiya in Qatif on Friday they were attacked by gunfire," a police statement on the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Friday. "They dealt with the situation by firing back, which resulted with the death of one." The SPA also said a protester was killed and three others were wounded in clashes on Thursday.
Activists and witnesses said that security forces opened fire when a Shia procession marking the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad - a celebration forbidden in ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia - turned into a demonstration for reform and the release of detainees.