WASHINGTON, May 29: The United States on Tuesday urged Americans in Bahrain to “take seriously” security advice offered by the State Department after a weekend incident in which two US military personnel and one of their wives were seriously injured.

“Each American traveling to or residing in Bahrain should continue to take seriously the State Department’s recommendation to maintain a low profile, avoid large public gatherings and to vary their travel routes and times,” the US embassy in Manama said in a notice.

The notice, distributed to Americans in Bahrain and made available by the State Department in Washington, did not mention the injuries to the two soldiers but instead focused on a series of upcoming pro-Palestinian demonstrations planned for this week in the Gulf state.

However, in a separate notice, the embassy acknowledged the Sunday night incident.

The Bahraini interior ministry said the two Americans were injured when their car was assaulted by a mob following a row with a shop owner that sparked and an anti-US protest.

Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

“An incident occurred in Budaya last night in which two American military personnel and the wife of one of them sustained serious injuries,” the embassy said.

“The US Navy authorities are cooperating fully with the appropriate Bahraini authorities to determine responsibility for the incident and to take the appropriate action,” it said.

It added that neither the embassy nor the US Navy would comment on the details of the incident while it is under investigation by authorities.

Dozens of young Bahrainis rallied to protest at what they called the police’s failure to intervene and demand “the departure of US military personnel” from the Gulf kingdom, a “major non-NATO ally” of the United States.

The incident came against a backdrop of mounting anti-US sentiment in the country over Washington’s perceived bias for Israel.

Bahrainis have staged a series of anti-Israel and anti-US demonstrations after Israel launched a military offensive in the West Bank in late March. —AFP