Manama: Bahraini security authorities have arrested "a number of suspects" in connection with an attack on a police patrol that killed one policeman and injured two others.
Chairing a meeting with senior officers to discuss the investigations into the deadly onslaught that occurred on Saturday in the village of Karbabad, west of the capital Manama, Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said that "the terrorist attack was the result of incitement both from within Bahrain and from abroad, and reminded parents to protect their children from online incitement," a statement from the ministry said.
Shaikh Rashid said that the role of police was to maintain and protect public order and that the police personnel were legally authorised to use force against anyone who put the lives of police officers or the security of the nation at risk.
The minister added that "anyone who incites violence will be held accountable by law" and stressed the importance of justice in the cases of terror in order to uphold security and punish those responsible for committing such attacks, the statement said.
Mohammad Tanweer was the 17th policeman to be killed in Bahrain since 2011 when the dramatic events that shook the nation unfolded.
"We hope that everyone implicated in these crimes will be brought to justice," Shaikh Rashid said as he offered his condolences to the Mohammad's family and his wishes of speedy recovery to the two injured policemen.
Mohammad was buried in a graveyard in Manama on Sunday in a funeral attended by hundreds of mourners, including relatives, interior ministry officers and colleagues, friends and common people.
"Bahrain suffers from terrorism supported by Iran and terror groups in Bahrain and abroad," Tariq Al Hassan, the head of public security, said. "The terror groups are plotting to undermine stability in the country, but we will keep moving ahead with the preservation of law and public order and with the upholding of the state of institutions. The determination of our servicemen to assume their responsibilities will not be hampered by terror attacks," Al Hassan said following the funeral.
The senior officer said that the picture has become clear about the identity and motives of those who support terrorism.
"What has happened is the result of the incitement to commit acts of terror," he said.
"This is usually done through the moral and material support, including religious ideologies, provided to the terrorists, but we at the Ministry of Interior are fully determined to combat all forms of terrorism and we will make sure that the long arm of the law catches them and brings them to justice," he said.
