MANAMA (AP) – Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Bahrain to demonstrate against the government in a permitted protest in the Gulf kingdom.

The demonstrators marched west of Bahrain s capital, Manama, on Friday to protest new strict laws designed to curb dissent.

The Shiite opposition party Wefaq called for the protest and had prior approval from the government, meaning it wasn t broken up like others recently called by demonstrators in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

Security forces have kept other protests away from the center of the capital in this country that s home to the U.S. Navy s 5th Fleet.

The island nation with a native population of more than 550,000 has been gripped by near nonstop turmoil since February 2011, when Shiites inspired by the Arab Spring began the uprising.