Bahrain government blame Hezbollah for policeman killing

A policeman has been killed in a terrorist attack in Bahrain, the interior ministry has confirmed.

The attack happened in Damistan, southwest of Manama, on Monday night while the officer was "doing his duty", the ministry said.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid Al Khalifa blamed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah for the attack.

A cordon around Damistan has been set up by police with a tightening of checks on the road leading to the village, residents said.

"Another policeman falls martyr in Bahrain," Al Khalifa wrote on Twitter, adding: "He was killed by a bomb made by Hezbollah, the terrorist party".

It was the first deadly attack on the security forces since parliamentary elections in November.

The vote was the first in Bahrain - the home base of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet - since authorities clamped down on pro-democracy protests led by Al Wefaq, the main Shiite opposition group in 2011.

Al-Wefaq distanced itself from the Damistan attack reiterating its "rejection" of violence in a statement.

Since 2011 there has been a rise in sporadic attacks against the security forces.

Last month two policemen were injured last month by a bomb in the Shi'ite village of Deraz west of Manama and three policemen, including one from the UAE, were killed in a bomb attack on March 3.