SECURITY forces came under attack across Bahrain yesterday – with video footage showing thugs firing a homemade rocket launcher at police in Sitra.

Authorities confirmed a mobile phone tower in A’ali was damaged after saboteurs broke into a control room and burned tyres at 2am.

“This caused a brief disruption of service for customers of that telecom provider, but full service has been restored,” said an official, who did not reveal which company was affected.

Minister of State for Telecommunications Affairs Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa condemned the attack.

“It’s very unfortunate that some parties in Bahrain engage in such vandalism and illegal activity victimising the community,” he said.

“We are investigating this case and once the perpetrators are arrested they will be prosecuted.”

A building belonging to Marina West Real Estate on the Janaibiya Highway in Budaiya was also destroyed after saboteurs broke into and exploded two gas cylinders at around 3.14am.

“A group of terrorists set afire and exploded two gas cylinders in a company building in Budaiya on Wednesday morning,” said an Interior Ministry statement.

It confirmed an investigation was underway to identify and arrest the suspects.

A video by an opposition group also emerged online yesterday showing a masked youth firing a homemade rocket launcher at police patrol cars in Sitra.

Two thugs were seen sneaking around the corner of a building with the weapon – one lighting the fuse, while the other crouches down to take aim and is almost knocked off his feet by the impact.

The video shows the flaming projectile travelled more than 50m and exploded when
it hit an armoured police vehicle.

No details were available about exactly where or when it happened.

Meanwhile, around 50 thugs created traffic chaos after taking over A’ali roundabout at around 9am.

They poured oil on roads leading to the area and burned tyres, before posing for pictures.

“I was driving to work and saw the whole thing, traffic was backed up but there was no major damage,” said a Central Governorate official, who witnessed the chaos.

“The police arrived at the scene shortly after and cleared out the area.”

ahmed@gdn.com.bh