Al-Wefaq said its secretary-general, Sheikh Ali Salman, was one of several prominent politicians attacked by tear gas canisters and rubber bullets as they led a march on Friday on the outskirts of the capital Manama.
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Sheikh Ali, who led the protest near his home, described the attacks as an escalation of security forces to “suppress the will of the Bahraini people to demand reform and democracy”.
Another protester was hospitalised and remains in intensive care after head surgery.
The government said that Wefaq had led an illegal rally on Friday evening, but when the group disobeyed orders to leave, the police used “legal methods to disperse the crowd,” injuring some people.
The incident marks another escalation of the pro-democracy protest movement as Wefaq, the largest opposition group, has tended to gather in government-approved rallies that have largely been allowed to pass peacefully by the authorities.
The increasingly violent protests seen this year have been driven by more radical youth elements, loosely gathered around the “February 14th movement”, who have been using petrol bombs and some improvised explosive devices against the police’s tear gas, rubber bullets and shot guns.
The majority Shia have been leading calls for greater democracy since widespread protests rocked this strategically important island last February until the minority Sunni-led government, with backing from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, brutally cracked down on the demonstrations.
The opposition says Friday’s incident is yet another example of continuing police brutality, despite government assurances that it would reform after an independent commission slammed the security forces for using excessive force and systematic torture against protesters.
Sheikh Ali’s decision to go ahead with a Wefaq march that had been banned by the interior ministry comes after Sheikh Ali earlier this month warned government hardliners of more popular resistance if demands for democracy were spurned.
The government says it is implementing reforms and uses legitimate force to maintain security.
The police, which rejected a request to approve Friday’s march because it would have caused “traffic congestion,” said the incident is under investigation.
