Makeshift barricades in the Shiite Muslim village of Malkiya, Bahrain, southwest of the capital Manama. Picture: AP

MEDICAL workers in Bahrain have accused their government of crimes against humanity, with hospitals and staff attacked as the regime attempts to conceal the mounting casualties from its crackdown on Shia-led protesters.

An investigation by The Times yesterday unearthed systematic human rights violations by Bahraini security forces as sectarian hatred and escalating violence plunged the Gulf kingdom deeper into crisis.

In Shia villages around the capital, Manama, the depths to which the regime has sunk is now clear. Medical staff have been shot, beaten and, in at least one instance, fired at with live rounds from a helicopter as they attempted to retrieve wounded protesters. The International Hospital was attacked with shotguns and teargas in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday.

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"To shoot at a hospital is a crime. To stop people going to a hospital is a crime. It's disgusting. This breaches every human rights convention," said a senior staff member at the International Hospital.

The dead and injured are being moved by the government to Salmaniya hospital in central Manama. The site is now under military command, sealed off for more than 48 hours since the main assault on the protesters began. Sources inside the hospital say the facility is critically short of supplies, with staff beaten if they attempt to leave. The hospital's manager and chief surgeon was arrested yesterday and replaced by a military doctor.

Bahraini military and security forces moved in to smash the pro-democracy encampment in Manama's Pearl Square on Wednesday morning. Staff at the International Hospital who were able to speak for the first time about what had been happening over the past two days said the first wounded began to arrive early that morning, with three dead and 55 critical.

"We could not count the injured. They were everywhere, in every room, on the floor," said one. Later that morning two riot vans pulled up in front of the main hospital building. Police firing shotguns blew out the glass doors, hitting one doctor. Then 15 teargas canisters were fired into the grounds and building.

In the Shia stronghold of Sitra, hospital staff reported two dead yesterday and about 500 injured after a sustained onslaught over 36 hours. When security forces surrounded the site, staff moved the critically injured to an improvised clinic in a mosque.

Again, medics were targeted as they ventured out to pick up the wounded. "A paramedic and a nurse went out during the attack. They were shot at several times from a helicopter, with live rounds," said Hussain, a doctor, who broke down in tears as he described carrying a man whose head had been blown apart.

The government has denied using live rounds in the operation but the claim was denounced by medics. "We had two dead and 22 critical from shotguns and live rounds. One of the dead was shot in the back through his heart, the second had his skull smashed in with sticks," said a doctor at Al-Nafees hospital.

The government puts the death toll at six, with 250 injured, but doctors believe the true figures are far higher. With hospitals under attack and many roads impassable, the wounded are being treated in houses, mosques and community centres.

Almost more sinister than the violence is the campaign to cover it up that doctors say is under way. Security force personnel removed the dead and injured at Al-Nafees hospital to Salmaniya. Staff have been told they must tell the police an hour before a patient is discharged. Then security forces arrive to take them away. With any injured protester facing arrest, medics lie to the authorities when they can about the cause of their injuries. "If we think we can get away with it we say they were hit by a car," said one doctor.

At Salmaniya, a humanitarian crisis is developing. The hospital is surrounded by armoured cars and masked gangs carrying clubs and rifles. Most staff have had their phones confiscated, but one man, whose wife has been stuck in the hospital for two days, described horrific scenes. "They have run out of blood for transfusions. The army would not let staff leave to get more. Those that tried were beaten," he said.

Staff at Salmaniya have been accused of harbouring Shia terrorists and taking Sunni hostages, claims denied by Nezar bin Sadeq al-Baharna, the Health Minister, who resigned in disgust at the violence on Wednesday.