The daughter of a prominent Bahraini opposition activist and 40 other people were arrested early yesterday, hours after security forces used tear gas and birdshot to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding political reforms, said activists.
At least 45 people were injured in the security forces’ operation to break up the three separate protests across the Gulf Arab island kingdom late on Thursday, they said.
Bahrain crushed an uprising led by majority Shia Muslims last year, who say they have long been marginalised in political and economic life, which the government denies.
The head of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, Mohammed al-Maskati, said activist Zainab al-Khawaja was arrested early yesterday when she tried to hold a solitary protest sit-in at al-Badei street close to the capital Manama.
Ms Zainab is the daughter of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a leading Shia figure in the uprising who ended a more than three-month-long hunger strike in May after drawing attention to the issue of imprisoned activists. – (Reuters)