Bahraini teenager killed as he tries to attend Friday prayer

A 16-year-old Bahraini was killed Friday as he was trying to enter a mosque blocked by police during weekly prayers, according to opposition sources.

A member of the opposition Wefaq party cited eyewitnesses who claimed Ali Abbas Radhi was chased by police and subsequently run over by a civilian vehicle, as he approached the besieged mosque in Diraz village, west of Manama.

Bahrain's Interior Ministry identified the slain Bahraini as a “pedestrian” who died when a car hit him on a road in the Manama's city center. The Ministry initially said he was “Asian,” but went on to issue a correction that said he was Bahraini.

Security forces have set up checkpoints around the mosque and fired tear gas at worshippers trying to reach Friday prayers led by Sheikh Isa Qassim, who denounced Bahrain's move to revoke the nationalities of 31 Bahrainis this week. The government had this week warned religious clerics not to criticize the government or incite violence.

Riot police prevented media and non-residents from reaching Diraz on Friday morning, blocking off all roads and highways. Some arrests were made, witnesses said.

More than 80 people have died and hundreds have been killed since the start of an uprising against Bahrain's monarchy in February 2011, according to activist sources.

(Al-Akhbar, Reuters)