BAHRAIN: Sectarian clashes erupt at a girls' school in Sar

Record ID: 777732

  • Title: BAHRAIN: Sectarian clashes erupt at a girls' school in Sar
  • Date: 11th March 2011
  • Summary: ANGRY PARENTS MARCHING AND CHANTING IN ARABIC: "Down, down, Hamad (the King of Bahrain)."
  • Embargoed: 26th March 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bahrain, Bahrain
  • Country: Bahrain
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Education
  • Reuters ID: LVACSUI9GXSE1TO6OBWGTFIKYBVT
  • Story Text: Sectarian clashes erupted at a girls' school in Bahrain on Thursday (March 10) as the country looked increasingly split between Shi'ites protesting against the government and Sunnis who support it.
    The Gulf Arab country has been gripped by the worst unrest since the 1990s since protesters took to the streets last month, inspired by uprisings that unseated entrenched rulers in Egypt and Tunisia.
    Seven have been killed in clashes with security forces in the Gulf island kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, and thousands of the Feb. 14 youth movement are still occupying Manama's Pearl Square.
    Witnesses said fighting broke out at a school in the small city of Sar, around 8 km (5 miles) west of the capital Manama, in an area where both Shi'ites and Sunni live, when students launched anti-government protests.
    "During the break we went on a peaceful protest, we gathered, a few girls. Next thing we know a group of naturalised people were let into school and the school door was locked, they had iron and wooden sticks and knives," said one student.
    They said parents of pro-government students of naturalised Sunni families came to the school armed with clubs. Parents of Shi'ite students then also arrived and clashes erupted.
    Bahrain's practice of settling Sunni foreigners serving in its security apparatus is a thorny issue for the Shi'ite opposition. It views it as an attempt by the Sunni ruling family to change the country's sectarian balance, an accusation the government denies.
    It was not clear whether there were any injuries but one witness said he saw an ambulance driving away one girl.
    The country saw the first clashes between Sunni and Shi'ite residents last week when at least a hundred residents fought with clubs in Hamad Town, an area where people of both sects live. Several residents were injured.
    It was not clear what prompted the clashes that lasted about two hours before police and politicians calmed the situation, but residents said that people of Syrian origin had been involved.
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