Crowds of mourners confronted police in Bahrain on Saturday after a teenage protester was killed by a police car, residents said, heightening tensions in the Gulf state where majority Shias are demanding more political rights. The 16-year-old was run over late on Friday by the police car at a protest in an area near a US base, residents and a human rights group said.
The state news agency BNA said a police vehicle lost control and hit the youth because protesters had poured oil on streets to disrupt traffic. The island's Shia Muslim majority are demanding more political rights and an end to what they say is discrimination practised by the Sunni-dominated monarchy, which put down a pro-democracy uprising earlier this year. Many Shia areas are witnessing almost nightly clashes with security forces.
Police sealed off the village of Sitra, the main site of the memorial gathering, and fired tear gas to try to turn back long queues of cars carrying protesters. "Police are using tear gas to disperse the protesters and hitting some cars," a resident told Reuters by telephone.