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Bahrain unrest: Teenager dies after protest | Bahrain unrest: Teenager dies after protest |
(about 21 hours later) | |
A teenage boy has died after being hit by a tear-gas canister fired by Bahraini security forces trying to disperse a protest, activists say. | A teenage boy has died after being hit by a tear-gas canister fired by Bahraini security forces trying to disperse a protest, activists say. |
Ali Jawad Ahmed, 14, was among a small crowd who had gathered overnight in the village of Sitra, said the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights. | Ali Jawad Ahmed, 14, was among a small crowd who had gathered overnight in the village of Sitra, said the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights. |
The group said security forces personnel had used "excessive force". | The group said security forces personnel had used "excessive force". |
The authorities say an initial investigation suggests the security forces were not involved in the death. | |
More than 30 people have been killed in Bahrain since protests began in February, with the island's Shia majority demanding political, social and economic reforms from the Sunni royal family. | More than 30 people have been killed in Bahrain since protests began in February, with the island's Shia majority demanding political, social and economic reforms from the Sunni royal family. |
Small-scale clashes between security forces and demonstrators have become a near nightly event since emergency rule was lifted in June. | Small-scale clashes between security forces and demonstrators have become a near nightly event since emergency rule was lifted in June. |
Conflicting accounts | |
Isa Hassan, the teenager's uncle, said police officers had overreacted when confronted by a small group of protesters in the village of Sitra, after prayers to mark the first day of the Shia Eid celebrations. | |
He said the tear gas canister was fired from about 7m (21ft) away, directly at the crowd. | |
"They are supposed to lob the canisters of gas, not shoot them at people," he said at the funeral, according to the Associated Press. "Police used it as a weapon." | |
One activist told the BBC that Ali Jawad Ahmed was hit in the face by the canister. He was taken to a local clinic, where he was pronounced dead. | |
The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights published a photograph showing the boy with blood seeping from his mouth. | |
A police official quoted by the state news agency, BNA, said there was no reported police action in Sitra at the time. | |
The Bahraini under-secretary for human rights, Saeed Mohamed al-Fayhani, told the BBC that the boy's death was "not related to any contact between the police and demonstrators". | |
"The report that I saw is is that he was hit from behind on his neck and that was the reason for his death," Mr Fayhani said. | |
He said a fuller inquiry was now under way. |
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