Manama: Bahraini security forces firing tear gas and rubber bullets clashed today with hundreds of anti-government protesters near the former epicentre of the Gulf kingdom`s uprising.

Opposition supporters who had gathered in Shiite villages around the capital Manama for a religious procession to mark the holy days of Ashoura marched on Manama`s Pearl Square, a heavily guarded intersection that was the heart of the Shiite majority`s campaign for greater rights from Sunni rulers. The square carries great symbolic value, and security forces violently prevented the protesters from reaching the square today. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Bahrain has seen sporadic protests since the government, backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, forcefully put down the uprising in this strategically important Gulf nation earlier this year.
PTI