DUBAI: Security forces in Bahrain opened fire yesterday to disperse angry Shia protesters following the funeral of a youth who was shot dead a day before, witnesses said.
Several protesters were wounded as police fired shotguns, as well as stun grenades, to disperse protesters after thousands of mourners took part in the funeral of 17-year-old Ali Hussein Nemat in the village of Sadad, outside Manama, witnesses said.
Images posted online by the Shia opposition Al-Wefaq showed thousands of men and black-clad women marching behind the coffin of the teenage boy who was shot dead Friday by a police patrol. The Interior Ministry said the police acted in self-defence after assailants attacked them with petrol bombs and iron rods.
Thousands of people had taken to the streets on Friday in a demonstration to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who has been in office since 1971 and widely despised by Shias.
The kingdom has continued to witness sporadic Shia-led demonstrations, mostly outside the capital, since it crushed a protest movement in a bloody crackdown in March of last year.
AFP
