DUBAI: Bahraini youth opposition group yesterday said it blew up a car in Manama overnight in an incident the authorities blamed on a “terrorist group” just days ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix.
There were no casualties in the blast and no damage other than to the car, police said in a statement.
“A terrorist group used a gas cylinder to burn a car in Manama at night on Sunday causing an explosion,” the statement said.
The radical youth February 14 Movement claimed responsibility for the blast in a statement on its Twitter account, saying its aim was to disrupt “activity in Manama’s financial centre in opposition to holding the Formula One race” on Sunday.
Security services are investigating the attack aimed at “attracting the attention of the media” before the controversial race, official BNA news agency quoted a government official as saying.
The blast came as police fired tear gas and sound bombs to disperse protesters chanting “No, no to F1” in several Shia villages around Manama late on Sunday, witnesses said. No casualties were reported in the protests. The main Shia opposition bloc Al Wefaq condemned the attack “regardless of the party which carried it out.” It reaffirmed its “commitment to peaceful action as a strategic choice” and urged a “probe into the incident by an independent commission.”
Sunni-ruled Bahrain has vowed to take “appropriate” security measures ahead of the April 19-21 Grand Prix, as Shia demonstrators stage daily protests. Under the banner “Democracy is our right,” the mainly Shia opposition is holding a week of protests that began on Friday to coincide with the lead-up to the race.
Al Wefaq said on Sunday that 98 people have been arrested and 31 injured in clashes with police so far this month. According to Human Rights Watch, police have been rounding up pro-democracy activists in an attempt to head off protests over the Gulf state hosting the race.
Bahrain was rocked by month-long pro-democracy protests led by the kingdom’s Shia majority in early 2011 that were crushed with the help of Saudi-led troops.
AFP
