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Policeman hurt in Bahrain bomb blast - ministry


    MANAMA (Reuters) - A policeman was wounded when a homemade bomb exploded in a village in Bahrain on Friday, the Interior Ministry said, in the latest of a series of attacks by suspected Shi'ite Muslim militants on security forces.

    No one claimed responsibility for the blast in the village of al-Daih, west of the capital Manama.

    "A terrorist act targeted the lives of policemen who were on duty in the village of al-Daih, using a homemade bomb that injured one security man," the ministry said in a brief statement.

    Bahrain has for three years been grappling with unrest by its Shi'ite Muslim community demanding political reform and an end to perceived discrimination in the Sunni Muslim-ruled country. Bahrain denies discrimination.

    The Western-allied kingdom is the base for the U.S. Fifth Fleet and a bulwark against Shi'ite giant Iran across the Gulf.

    In the most serious attack in recent months, three policemen were killed in a bomb attack on March 3 in Daih while security forces were trying to disperse a group who were blocking roads in the village after a funeral.

    Since then, several explosions, mostly of homemade bombs, have injured at least three policemen in Shi'ite villages around Manama.

    A bomb exploded in a car in Manama on Sunday as the kingdom hosted a Formula One motor racing Grand Prix. No one was hurt and the Grand Prix was unaffected.

    (Reporting by Farishta Saeed; writing by Sami Aboudi; editing by Andrew Roche)