Reuters
A Bahraini man died yesterday from shotgun pellet wounds sustained during clashes with police almost two months ago, rights activists said, becoming the first person to be killed in such circumstances since February last year.
Rights campaigners said Abdulaziz al-Abbar, 27, was hit by a teargas canister and shotgun pellets fired by riot police at a funeral procession. It is not uncommon in Bahrain for funerals to turn into public expressions of discontent, sometimes leading to clashes with police.
One pellet penetrated al-Abbar’s brain and another his eye and he was in a coma in hospital until his death, rights activists said.
“Al-Abbar has been martyred today (Friday), after police directly shot his head on February 23,” said the main opposition Al Wefaq on its Twitter feed.
Another group, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, said: “Initial reports indicate that the shooting of al-Abbar was by police officers standing at close range.”
Officials from the government’s Information Affairs Authority (IAA) and the Public Prosecution office contacted by Reuters via telephone and e-mail could not be reached for comment yesterday.
