An anti-government protester throws stones at riot police during clashes after the funeral procession of 17-year-old Ali Khalil in the village of Bani Jamra west of Manama yesterday. Khalil died when a bomb he was carrying exploded, the interior ministry said.
Reuters/Dubai
A teenager was killed late on Tuesday in Bahrain when a bomb he was holding exploded in his hands while he was trying to carry out an attack, police said.
State news agency BNA quoted police as saying that the 17-year-old youth had been wanted by security forces for “criminal offences”. A firearm and ammunition was also found near the body in the village of Bani Jamra, west of the capital Manama, BNA said without giving any details.
Witnesses said one worker staying at a nearby warehouse was injured by the blast.
The interior ministry had earlier said that the police operations room received a call from a person reporting the blast and were told one person was dead at the scene.
“Police deployed to the area and dealt with a suspicious object,” the ministry said on its Twitter account without elaborating.
The country has been buffeted by political turmoil since 2011 when mostly Shia protesters took to the streets, calling for political reforms and more say in government.
The Bahraini government largely put down the uprising with help from Gulf Arab neighbours but small-scale clashes continue and bomb attacks have been increasing since mid-2012.
In the most recent attacks, five security officers were injured in an explosion in August in the village of Dair, north of Manama. In July, one policeman was killed when a homemade bomb exploded in the town of Sitra, near Manama.
