Bahrain police escape blast in Shiite village

Bahrain

Authorities in Bahrain said an explosion on Sunday as a police patrol passed by in the Shiite-majority village of Ekr was a "terrorist act", adding that nobody was injured.

The interior ministry said on Twitter that an investigation was under way into the second such incident in 24 hours.

On Saturday, another police patrol was targeted in Krana, another village near the capital Manama, it said.

The ministry on Wednesday said a man was killed while trying to plant a bomb in Ekr. It did not identify him.

Shiite-led protests since 2011 demanding reforms in the minority Sunni-ruled kingdom have sparked clashes with security forces in which at least 89 people have been killed, human rights groups say.

Since an Arab Spring-inspired uprising was crushed four years ago, protesters have clashed frequently with security forces in Shiite villages outside Manama.