Bahraini police fight protesters

Bahraini security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to try to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters attempting to march along a highway leading to the island kingdom's capital on Thursday. The clashes follow 10 months of unrest between Bahrain's Sunni monarchy and an opposition movement led by the country's majority Shiites. Clashes erupted near the town of Diraz and other opposition stronghold villages west of the capital, Manama. Riot police were seen chasing protesters away from entrances to the key highway and back into the largely Shiite communities that line the road. Online activists have issued calls on Twitter and other social media for marchers to occupy the highway, seeking to maintain momentum for protests in the strategically important Gulf nation that hosts the US Navy's 5th Fleet. Hundreds of marchers, some waving red and white Bahraini flags, were seen along the side of the highway when the clashes broke out in the afternoon. Witnesses described a heavy police presence in the area ahead of the protest, with security forces dressed in riot gear and helicopters hovering low overhead. The highway connects a string of largely Shiite villages west of Manama. It leads to a junction that is roughly half a kilometer (a quarter of a mile) south of Manama's Pearl Square, where this year's uprising originated. Government forces evicted protesters and tore down the pearl sculpture that marked the site in March. The now heavily guarded square holds great symbolic value for the opposition movement, and protesters have repeatedly tried to retake it. More than 35 people have died in clashes and protest-related violence since February, inspired by other Arab Spring revolts. Bahrain's protests are the largest and most sustained to have hit the Arab monarchies and sheikdoms that line the Persian Gulf.