MANAMA: Police have advised house owners not to leave their properties vacant and unsecured for extended periods of time following confiscation of weapons, incendiary devices and gas cylinders in a vacant house used by rioters.
“We seized four gas cylinders, 17 Molotov cocktails and raw materials following a search of a house in Sanabis village,” a senior official from the Capital Governorate police station said.
During the operation, a group of men clashed with the police, which resulted in injuries. Three people were hospitalized. Tensions are brewing on the streets as protesters — mainly youths — gather every night and damage public property. On Saturday, five cars were set ablaze by unidentified men after they entered the parking area of the National Driver Training Center in Isa Town.
The protesters were demanding the release of two opposition figures and those arrested in connection with planning terror attacks in the Kingdom last year during National Day celebrations. Special security forces regularly patrol some of the unrest areas.
Last week, the special forces clashed with students at a local school afer a group of students went on a rampage, destroying public property and threw stones at passersby.
“Political conflicts should not enter school premises. We will take action against the group of students who are disturbing other students,” said Nabeel Al-Assoumi, a Ministry of Education official. He said there are 14 cases of arson attacks on educational institutions last year.
No one was injured in those incidents.
Al-Wefaq bloc, the main opposition party in the Bahrain Parliament, urged students to maintain calm and not to resort to violence.
Minister of Interior Lt. Gen. Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa said in the local media that it was the “social and religious duty” of scholars to discourage the use of weapons, such as Molotov cocktails. Last year, a total of 115 rallies and marches took place on the island. The minister’s comments came after a Pakistani man died earlier this month from burns sustained after miscreants tossed a petrol bomb at his vehicle.
