Hamad Town (Bahrain) - At least eight people were injured today in Bahrain to check hundreds of clashes between Shiites and Sunni Arabs in the city recently naturalized in Hamad Town, south of the capital. The demonstrators made use of stones, wooden sticks and knives in the street battle in which at least eight people were injured, one seriously.
A photographer who was working for an international agency was beaten numerous times by a mob. He took away the camera before he was rescued by police. At the moment it was unclear if they also were wounded members of the security forces to try to remove the sides. However, some of them had blood-stained uniform.
Early reports say the confrontation began hours earlier among children of an Arab family and Shia students recently naturalized, and that night the fight escalated until it became a battle of neighbors on both sides. The clashes between the two groups are not uncommon in this region, where Shiites believe that the newly naturalized Sunni Arabs are part of an alleged government plan to marginalize the Shia and generate a demographic shift in the population.
Over the last few two years, the area reported numerous sectarian strife. The Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid al Khalifa bin Absullah met on site with security forces. The country's largest Shiite group, Al Wefaq, issued a statement on Thursday calling for unity between Sunnis and Shiites and calling for city residents to remain calm.
The statement warns of attempts to bring public opinion in an "address to harm national unity." "Residents should be cautious about anything that could undermine national unity and create sedition in Bahraini society," the letter urged. That was the same message delivered thousands of protesters on Tuesday, when they marched peacefully in the capital of Bahrain.
Shia Muslims make up more than 70 percent of the population, but the ruling family belongs to the Sunni Muslim group. From the February 14 protests the country has. 
A photographer who was working for an international agency was beaten numerous times by a mob. He took away the camera before he was rescued by police. At the moment it was unclear if they also were wounded members of the security forces to try to remove the sides. However, some of them had blood-stained uniform.
Early reports say the confrontation began hours earlier among children of an Arab family and Shia students recently naturalized, and that night the fight escalated until it became a battle of neighbors on both sides. The clashes between the two groups are not uncommon in this region, where Shiites believe that the newly naturalized Sunni Arabs are part of an alleged government plan to marginalize the Shia and generate a demographic shift in the population.
Over the last few two years, the area reported numerous sectarian strife. The Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid al Khalifa bin Absullah met on site with security forces. The country's largest Shiite group, Al Wefaq, issued a statement on Thursday calling for unity between Sunnis and Shiites and calling for city residents to remain calm.
The statement warns of attempts to bring public opinion in an "address to harm national unity." "Residents should be cautious about anything that could undermine national unity and create sedition in Bahraini society," the letter urged. That was the same message delivered thousands of protesters on Tuesday, when they marched peacefully in the capital of Bahrain.
Shia Muslims make up more than 70 percent of the population, but the ruling family belongs to the Sunni Muslim group. From the February 14 protests the country has.
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