Bahrain court jails 10 over police attack

Dubai: Bahrain on Tuesday sentenced four people to life in prison and six others for up to 15 years for attacking police during a protest in a Shiite village, the prosecution said.

The 10 defendants were found guilty of being behind "terrorist plots", detonating explosives and resisting police, the kingdom's public prosecution said in a statement.

"Four were sentenced to life in prison, while the remaining defendants were jailed between three to 15 years," it said.

The defendants were charged of detonating a roadside bomb when a police patrol passed in the village of Akr, south of Manama, in April 2014.

Three police vehicles were damaged in the attack, the prosecution statement said.

Bahrain has been shaken by unrest since it quelled a month-long Shiite-led uprising demanding reforms which erupted on February 14, 2011.

Tiny but strategic, the kingdom is connected to regional Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia by a causeway, lies across the Gulf from Shiite Iran and is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Despite the crackdown on the 2011 uprising, protesters frequently attack police in Shiite villages outside the capital Manama.