Bahrain executes 3 prisoners for first time in decade

Manama: Bahrain on Sunday executed three prisoners who had been convicted of carrying out an attack in 2014 that killed three policemen, the first death penalties in the Arab country in a decade.

Sami Mushaima, 42, Ali Sankice, 21, and Abbas Samee, 27, who were condemned in 2015, were executed by a firing squad, Efe news agency reported.

The relatives of the three condemned persons were called to attend the funeral in a cemetery in Manama that was cordoned off by the police in order to avoid protests.

Authorities said on Saturday night that a policeman was injured in an attack on a checkpoint outside a Shia-majority town.

Last week, a top court rejected the final appeal in the case. On Saturday, the United Nations called on Bahrain to halt the executions.

The three were found guilty -- along with seven other inmates -- of belonging to a terror cell that participated in the March 2014 bombing of the village of Sanabis in which three policemen died, including an officer from the United Arab Emirates.