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 on Sunday.
Al-Wefaq, the largest Shiite opposition group, said "dozens were wounded" when security forces yesterday "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 here yesterday.
The authorities say the boy's death was an "accident" caused when a police vehicle swerved out of control and struck him.
According to Al-Wefaq, Ali Yussef Baddah was killed in the Al-Jufair suburb of Manama after midnight on 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 yesterday by the official state news.
The statement said yesterday'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 release a report on the violence on Wednesday.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, November 20, 2011, 18:47