Bahrain gets Gulf military aid

A combined military force from Gulf states has entered Bahrain to help deal with a month of political unrest.

A Saudi official said the units came from a special force within the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council.

He did not have information on the size of the force, but said they were deployed by air and road and will help protect key buildings.

The intervention sharply boosts the regional stakes on behalf of Bahrain’s embattled Sunni rulers, who have faced growing pressures from the country’s majority Shiites for sweeping political reforms.

The GCC members are Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.