MOI says three policemen wounded in Bahrain explosion

Three policemen wounded in Bahrain explosion
24 April, 2012 – Reuters – by Firouz Sedarat

(Reuters) – Three policemen were wounded by an explosion in a village in western Bahrain on Tuesday that the government said was a “terrorist” act after weeks of protests against a Formula One Grand Prix held in the Gulf Arab state.

The Interior Ministry said in a Twitter message that two of the three policemen were seriously wounded by the blast late on Tuesday. Residents earlier said four officers had been hurt.

“A terrorist … bombing targeted policemen in the Diraz area and led to the injury of three policemen, two of them seriously,” it said.

Diraz is one of the villages outside the capital Manama where there have been frequent pro-democracy protests by majority Shi’ites against the Sunni-Muslim led monarchy.

On April 9, seven policemen were wounded, three of them seriously, when a home-made bomb exploded during a protest near Manama calling for the release of an activist on a two-month hunger strike.

Bahrain, a U.S. ally that hosts Washington’s Fifth Fleet, has been in turmoil since protests inspired by “Arab Spring” uprisings began in February 2011.

Though martial law and Saudi troops were brought in to crush them after one month, the strife has continued with regular mass marches by opposition parties and violent clashes with riot police.

The daughter of the jailed hunger striker was remanded in custody for seven days for protesting during last week’s Formula One race, her lawyer said on Tuesday.

Zainab al-Khawaja was arrested on Saturday after she sat on the highway running past Bahrain’s financial district during days of Shi’ite protests held to embarrass the kingdom’s rulers at a time when the race drew international media attention.
…source