MANAMA, Bahrain — Bahraini authorities say a man died when a bomb, which he was trying to plant to target police, went off in the strategic Gulf island kingdom.

The Interior Ministry says on its Twitter feed on Wednesday that the person died in the village of Eker, south of the capital, Manama. Authorities have launched an investigation.

Eker has been a flashpoint for clashes between Shiite anti-government protesters and security forces. Bomb blasts there claimed the lives of several policemen in 2012 and again last year.

Bahrain is a Sunni-ruled kingdom that is home to U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. It continues to face low-level unrest, more than four years after a Shiite-dominated opposition movement took to the streets to demand greater political rights.