Explosion wounds five Bahraini policemen

Five Bahraini policemen were lightly injured in a “terrorist explosion” outside the capital Manama on Monday, the state news agency reported.

The agency said the blast occurred in the village of Daih on Budaiya road while the policemen were guarding a procession by Shi’ite Muslims marking the annual Ashura festival, which commemorates the death of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Imam Hussein some 1400 years ago.

The agency quoted the interior ministry as saying on its Twitter account that “the necessary steps” were being taken, without giving any details.

The explosion was the latest in a series of attacks targeting policemen in the Western-allied country, where the US Fifth Fleet is based.

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The government blames the attacks on Shi’ite militants it says are backed by Iran to destabilise the country, a charge Tehran denies.

In June, a member of Bahrain’s security forces was killed in an explosion in the village of Diraz, the hometown of the spiritual leader of the country’s Shi’ite community Ayatollah Isa Qassim. The interior ministry blamed “terrorists” for the attack.