MANAMA, Bahrain, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- The Gulf nation of Bahrain held elections Saturday for the first time since the 2011 Arab Spring amid a boycott by the country's Shia opposition groups.
The parliamentary elections are the first since the government violently cracked down on protests by the country's majority Shia population three years ago. Bahrain's ruling Sunni family, the Khalifas, was assisted by military forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- also Sunni monarchies -- to suppress the massive anti-government protest in March 2011.