DUBAI: A bomb blast killed two Bahrain policemen and wounded six others on Tuesday in an area often shaken by clashes between security forces and Shia protesters, the interior ministry said.

Bahrain has seen frequent unrest since the minority Sunni rulers of the small Gulf kingdom crushed a Shia-led uprising four years ago.

The blast in Sitra island outside the capital Manama comes days after the Bahraini authorities announced they had foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons from Iran.

Bahrain’s main Shia opposition Al-Wefaq condemned the bombing, insisting that it “categorically rejected” violence.

Police blocked routes leading to the island following the explosion — the latest in a series of blasts targeting police in Shia villages, witnesses said.

“The explosives used in the terrorist incident are of the same quality of explosives seized recently while being smuggled from Iran,” the BNA state news agency reported.

The interior ministry described the blast as a “terror” attack.

Footage of the aftermath of the explosion showed a shrapnel-riddled police bus with shattered windows.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2015

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