Bahrain Mirror: Conflicting reports said that a Bahraini woman was killed in the Shiite village of Eker in a mysterious incident that occurred late Thursday night (June 30, 2016).

Shrapnel hit the car the woman was in, the police claimed, and security forces were investigating the scene of the attack which they say took place near an Iranian bank in the village of East Eker, south of Bahrain's capital, Manama, according to an Interior Ministry statement.

"A terrorist act on Thursday claimed the life of a woman and injured three children who were with her in a car that was hit by shrapnel after a bomb exploded," the director general of Manama's police directorate was quoted as saying by state media.

The Iranian Future Bank has been taken over and operated by the Bahraini authorities since  2015, after the government accused Iran of interfering in Bahrain's domestic affairs.

Reports; however, doubted the validity of the details announced by the Interior Ministry following the incident. Rights activist and president of the Gulf Center for Human Rights, Maryam Al-Khawaja, said that "statement on the ground say that the woman drove her car by accident in front of the King's convoy and thus was attacked with gunfire."

The slain Bahraini woman is Fakhriya Msallam Ahmad Hassan, born in 1974 and resident of the Shiite village of Sitra.

The authorities had previously announced freezing one of the Iranian Future Bank accounts containing USD 10M, which are Khums (alms) money owned by a local Shiite cleric.

The former member of the National Unity Assembly Adel Ali Abdullah announced that "a blast was detonated tonight in Bahrain in the Future Bank"

"Al-Shawoush" twitter account managed by one of the security members working in the National Security agency published details of the blast once the incident took place, stating that "it targeted a senior figure in Bahrain" before quickly deleting it and posting the Interior Ministry's narrative, which prompted suspicion over the nature of the incident.

The initial photos of the scene show no signs of an explosion or burns on the vehicle.

The General Directorate of Capital Governorate Police said that "the crime scene investigation team, forensic team and all the competent authorities headed to the scene once they were notified."

"An investigation has been launched to identify and arrest those involved," he added, stressing that "the Public Prosecution was notified."

Bahrain's Central Bank announced on May 1, 2015 taking over the administration of the Iranian Future Bank and Iran Insurance Company.

Pro-government media have launched last week a campaign against the bank after the authorities announced freezing a bank account including Khums money dedicated for the Shiite sect in the country.

On Thursday night (June 30, 2016), four senior Shiite clerics in Bahrain issued a statement saying that any attack on the Khums practice would be deemed an attack on the Shiite sect, stressing their rejection of any similar acts.

Arabic Version