Dubai: A Bahraini police patrol came under attack in a Shia village near the capital Manama on Friday, without causing casualties, the interior ministry said, as demonstrators held anti-government protests.

“Police patrol gutted in an attack by rioters with Molotov cocktails while police were securing a mosque in Sanad” village, the ministry tweeted. “No injuries reported.”

Witnesses said security forces were deployed yesterday after the “February 14 Coalition”, a radical youth group, called for anti-government protests on the anniversary of Bahrain’s independence from Britain in 1971.

The tiny but strategic US ally has seen frequent unrest since a Shiite-led uprising erupted four years ago demanding a constitutional monarchy.

On Thursday, authorities announced they had arrested five suspects, allegedly with links to Iran, in connection with a bombing that killed two policemen last month near Manama.

The Sunni-ruled kingdom frequently accuses Tehran of backing the unrest.

AFP