The protesters in Sitra on Sunday also denounced the Saudi-backed regime of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and his regime forces over their brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrations across the country. A day earlier, Bahraini activists held protests across the capital Manama against King Hamad and his ruling Al Khalifa clan. Bahrainis protested in the face of continued crackdown by Bahraini forces on the protests in the Persian Gulf island. Since mid-February, thousands of anti-regime protesters have been staging regular demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain. On March 14, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the peaceful protests. Scores of people have been killed, some of them while in custody, and hundreds more detained since the uprising began. 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.