Authorities in Bahrain said today a municipal building was set ablaze as fresh violence erupted over the executions of three Shiites convicted of a deadly bomb attack on police.
Tensions in the Sunni-ruled kingdom have been on the rise since the three men were executed by firing squad yesterday, a move that drew international condemnation.
The Shiite majority in Bahrain, which has been ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty for more than two centuries, has long complained of marginalisation. The country had been rocked by sporadic unrest since 2011.
A municipal building was torched overnight Monday in Shamalia, in the Shiite area of Aali, south of the capital Manama, the interior ministry said, without explicitly linking the incident to the executions.
"According to initial reports, the fire was intentional," the ministry said on Twitter, adding that it had been brought under control.
Protests broke out yesterday after the executions, reportedly the first carried out in Bahrain in six years.
Demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres and threw firebombs, and police retaliated by firing tear gas, according to posts on social media.
The confrontations continued overnight, with dozens of men and women marching through the streets of the village of Sanabis chanting slogans against the Al-Khalifa dynasty, according to witnesses.
Demonstrators tried to reach the main street of Sanabis, the hometown of the three executed men, but were blocked by security forces.
Sanabis was the closest Shiite village to the former Pearl roundabout which was the epicentre of a month-long Shiite-led uprising that the security forces crushed in mid-March 2011.
Protests turned violent overnight in several other Shiite villages, according to other witnesses who said police opened fire with buckshot to disperse demonstrators, wounding several.
Bahrain's authorities do not permit international news agencies to cover events independently.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
