DUBAI: Bahrain’s security forces attacked a funeral procession in a Shiite village on the outskirts of the Bahraini capital Manama injuring dozens of people, the opposition said in a statement Sunday.
Al-Wefaq, the largest Shiite opposition group, said “dozens were wounded” when security forces Saturday “brutally” attacked a funeral procession for a 16-year-old boy killed a day earlier after being struck by a police car.
The Al-Wefaq statement gave no further details of the incident but it accused the security forces of “raiding” several other Shiite villages Saturday.
The authorities say the boy’s death was an “accident” caused by a police vehicle swerving out of control.
According to Al-Wefaq, Ali Youssef Baddah was killed in the Al-Jufair suburb of Manama after midnight Friday, adding that police were out on the streets to break up a protest.
Police, meanwhile, said at least two people were injured in clashes in the city of Issa on the outskirts of Manama, according to a statement released late Saturday by the official state news.
The statement said Saturday’s injuries occurred when police intervened to stop a group of 25 people trying to block a main avenue.
Tensions remain high in Bahrain where the Sunni monarchy earlier this year crushed pro-democracy protests, spearheaded by the majority Shiites, with the help of troops from other Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia.
Twenty-four people died during the month-long crackdown, according to official figures from Manama. The opposition says 40 people were killed.
An independent commission is due to publish a report on the violence in Bahrain Wednesday.
The five-member panel is headed by Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, an Egyptian-born professor of international criminal law and a former member of U.N. human rights panels. It was set up in July with the consent of Bahrain’s rulers.
Over the past months, the panel received more than 8,000 complaints, testimonies and documents. Its members have interviewed more than 5,000 witnesses and alleged victims of the unrest, including detainees, police personnel, doctors and journalists.
Bahrain imposed martial law in March and invited in 1,500 troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbors who accuse regional Shiite power Iran of aiding the unrest.
The U.S. State Department Friday updated its travel alert on Bahrain, noting the “potential for unrest” and said all visitors will face “increased scrutiny” from Bahraini authorities.
“Travel in and around Bahrain could become dangerous without advance warning,” the announcement said.