Bahraini protesters said security services opened fire on demonstrators Friday evening as they marched toward the capital’s Pearl roundabout, dramatically escalating the standoff between the country’s Sunni Muslim rulers and its Shiite majority population.

Doctors at a hospital in the capital where wounded were being sent said x-rays showed security forces had used live bullets. Protesters said security forces shot into crowds.

The country’s crown prince, in an emotional TV appearance, appealed for calm and asked protesters to leave the square to begin “dialogue.”…

“We were walking holding a Bahraini flag, more than 2,000 people… Suddenly they shot at us,” said Nabeel Ali, a 22-year old student. He said marchers were walking from Daih village to the Pearl roundabout, in central Manama, to commemorate the third day since the first death from clashes.