DUBAI, Oct 5: Bahraini police clashed with hundreds of demonstrators on Friday who were trying to march on the capital’s Pearl Square, the epicentre of protests last year that were brutally crushed, witnesses said.

The confrontation erupted after a memorial service held in the Manama suburb of Jad Hafs for a young Bahraini jailed over those protests who died in custody on Tuesday after being hospitalised for treatment of a hereditary disease.

The interior ministry said on Twitter that a “group of terrorists” attacked police with Molotov cocktails and blocked streets, prompting police to take “legal measures” in response.

Witnesses said riot police, who were heavily deployed in the area, used tear gas, water cannon, sound bombs and buckshot to disperse the demonstrators.

Among slogans shouted were “The people want the regime to fall” and “Down with Hamad,” a reference to King Hamad, whose dynasty rules the Gulf kingdom, the witnesses added.

Last year, thousands of people took to the streets to call for reforms.—AFP