Youths flung petrol bombs at police cars during skirmishes before dawn, prompting authorities to flood Shiite villages around Manama with police reinforcements backed by helicopters.
Police fired tear gas protesters near the former Pearl Roundabout, focal point of last year’s protests, nearly hitting several people as canisters bounced off cars.
Other groups that appeared later were also doused with tear gas and about 30 people in total were detained and taken away.
King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, in a televised speech on Monday, told Bahrainis he remained committed to reforms launched a decade ago.
The official Bahrain News Agency meanwhile reported that arsonists set on fire a power generator in the village of Al-Muqsha and were throwing Molotov cocktails at firefighters trying to put out the blaze.
The government meanwhile threatened to take legal action against the organizers of protests on Monday that turned violent. The government statement said many protesters on Monday left a pre-authorized route in Manama, turning it into a riot after police arrived. It said Al Wefaq was responsible for the violence, because it failed to “control the crowd (and) that jeopardized the safety of the people along a busy main road.” Legal procedures will be taken against the organizers of the march, Tuesday’s statement said.
Al Wefaq rejected the claim.