Anti-government protests in Bahrain, led by the mainly Shia and partly Sunni Bahraini opposition, broke out in 2011. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the Arab Spring and protests in Tunisia and Egypt and escalated to daily clashes after the Bahraini government put the revolt down with the support of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Peninsula Shield Force. The Bahraini protests were a series of demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of both non-violent civil disobedience and volatile riots in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain. As part of the revolutionary wave of protests in the Middle East and North Africa following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, the Bahraini protests were initially aimed at achieving greater political freedom and equality for the 60% Shia population. Towards the culmination of the protests, the demands metamorphosed into calls for the resignation of former Crown Prince Khalifa Bin Salman and establishing an Islamic republic similar to that of Iran.