Witnesses said riot police in Sunni-ruled Bahrain fired tear gas and stun grenades as they clashed Sunday with hundreds of supporters of a Shiite opposition group after the funeral for protesters 15-year-old killed a day earlier.
Thousands of demonstrators, some carrying flags of Bahrain, chants gathered Sunday on the island of Sitra, South of Manama, to mourn the death of the youth.
The opposition claimed the youth was hit by a tear gas cannister at close range. But the authorities then raised questions about the circumstances of the death and said it would be investigated.
Bahrain security forces faced off against protesters through much of 2011 in a series of confrontations. Observers said the protesters had drawn inspiration from the uprising in Tunisia and Egypt. At least 35 people were killed in the throes of Bahrain during 2011, including the police.
The head of the Special Commission probing violence said in November that the Government of using excessive force, including torture of prisoners, at the height of its crackdown in March 2011.
But the report concluded there was no evidence that the Bay area doing human rights abuses, after Bahrain called on Saudi troops in March to help crush the protest.
information for this report provided by Reuters and AP.
Thousands of marks the day in the city, where the fruit vendor self-combustion last year is thought to have fueled Arab spring