Bahrain policeman killed in clashes with protesters

Manama, Feb 15 (AFP) A police officer was killed near the Bahraini capital Manama in fresh overnight clashes with protesters marking the second anniversary of a Shiite-led uprising, the interior ministry said today. The officer died after he was hit by a petrol bomb during clashes in a Shiite village near the capital. A teenager was shot dead yesterday when the protests to mark the 2011 uprising against the Gulf kingdom's Sunni rulers turned violent. "Police officer Mohamed Atef, hit by an incendiary device which seriously injured him, died soon after he was admitted to hospital," public security chief Major-General Tariq al-Hassan said in an interior ministry statement. Protesters were hurling petrol bombs, iron bars and stones at police in the Shiite-populated village of Al-Sahla when the incident occurred, Hassan said. Yesterday, a teenager was shot dead in another Shiite village on the outskirts of Manama during clashes that erupted when hundreds took to the streets to mark the anniversary. Those demonstrations turned violent when police fired shotguns and tear gas to disperse the crowds, wounding several people, witnesses said. Opposition groups had called for strikes and nationwide protests yesterday and today to mark the Arab Spring-inspired uprising on February 14, 2011, which was crushed by the security forces about a month later.(AFP) BOD 02151405 NNNN