Bahrain dismisses Shia crackdown claims amid wave of arrests

Bahrain rejected claims that it was cracking down on citizens based on their religious identity after activists reported a slew of arrests they said had mainly targeted Shias amid the Middle East war. The statement came after two Bahraini rights groups told AFP that more than 200 people, the vast majority of them from the Shia community, had been arrested since the beginning of the war. Authorities dismissed claims of sectarian bias and rights violations, saying “charges have been brought because of specific, evidenced conduct — including espionage, dissemination of enemy propaganda, and incitement to violence.”