Two police officers have been killed in Bahrain in a bomb attack, according to the interior ministry.
A third police officer was seriously injured, the ministry said on Twitter on Tuesday. It added that five more officers had received light to moderate injuries and were being treated in hospital.
The explosion was the first serious incident of violence in Bahrain in months. The tiny sheikhdom in the Gulf is ruled by the Sunni Al Khalifa monarchy, which presides over a majority Shia population.
The government released a statement saying that the explosives used were similar to those recently seized by security forces after allegedly being smuggled from Iran. “Early information suggests that the explosives used in today’s terrorist attack are of the same type that were recently intercepted coming from Iran,” the state news agency said.
Bahrain said on Saturday it had foiled an arms and explosives smuggling plot by two Bahrainis with ties to Iran, and recalled its ambassador to Tehran.
Bahrain was rocked by Arab spring protests in 2011 that were violently suppressed by the government. Protesters demanded political reforms and an end to discrimination against the Shia population, and for the overthrow of the Al Khalifa monarchy.
Supporters of the monarchy accused Iran of fomenting the rebellion in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies launched a land intervention at the time at the request of the Bahraini king in order to end the unrest.
Bahrain has largely escaped the fallout from the sectarian-inspired violence that has struck its neighbours in recent months. Suicide bombers from Islamic State have attacked Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait this summer, and there are fears the violence could persist in other areas of the Arabian peninsula.
The blast that killed the Bahraini policemen occurred on the majority-Shia island of Sitra, just off the main island of Bahrain.
The country has backed recent military campaigns by its dominant neighbour, Saudi Arabia, and the US. It has joined the US-led coalition against Isis in Iraq and Syria as well as a Saudi-led campaign in Yemen aimed at fighting the Houthis – Zaydi Shia rebels who are allied with Iran.
Bahrain hosts key American military installations. The US Navy’s fifth fleet, responsible for maritime security in the Gulf, is based in the country.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said in April that the crackdown on dissent since the 2011 protests has continued unabated despite assurances by the authorities that allegations of abuse were being investigated.