Gas canister fired at close range kills Bahraini, 14

A BOY aged 14 has died after being hit by a tear-gas canister fired by Bahraini security forces in clashes with protesters, human rights activists said.

Ali Jawad Ahmad died in the oil hub of Sitra. The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights said he was hit at close range when police tried to break up a demonstration.

Bahraini officials confirmed a boy had died, but would give no further details.

A statement by the interior ministry said there was no reported police action in Sitra at the time the boy’s death was reported. The statement added that an investigation was ordered and posted a 10,000 dinar (£16,000) reward for information about yesterday’s incident.

Isa Hassan, an uncle of the dead teenager, claimed police had overreacted when confronted by a small group of protesters on the island kingdom after morning prayers marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The island is ruled by a Sunni monarch but the majority of its population are Shia.

Mr Hassan said the tear gas was fired from about 20 feet away directly at the protesters.

“They are supposed to lob the canisters of gas, not shoot them at people,” he said at the funeral for the boy. “Police used it as a weapon.”

Bahrain has been gripped by ongoing clashes between police and Shia-led protesters demanding greater rights and political freedoms in the tiny Gulf nation which is the home of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet and seen as strategically important.

More than 30 people have been killed since protests began in February inspired by other uprisings across the Arab world.

Shiites are the majority in Bahrain but claim widespread discrimination by the ruling Sunni dynasty. Sunni rulers in the Gulf fear any concessions by Bahrain’s al-Khalifa family to protesters would strengthen the regional influence of Shia-ruled Iran.