Image copyright adhrb Image caption Amnesty International said one of those killed had suffered birdshot wounds to the head

The death toll from Tuesday's raid by Bahraini police on the home of the Sunni-ruled kingdom's most prominent Shia cleric has risen to five.

The interior ministry said 286 people were also arrested after officers came "under attack by members of a terrorist cell" in the village of Diraz.

Activists said the officers opened fire at a sit-in by supporters of Sheikh Isa Qassim, who was not detained.

It came two days after the cleric was convicted of corruption charges.

Sheikh Qassim was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence and fined 100,000 Bahraini dinars ($265,000; £204,000) after being found guilty by a court of collecting funds illegally and money laundering.

Last June, Bahrain stripped him of his citizenship, accusing him of using his position to promote violence.

The decision left him stateless and at risk of deportation, prompting the sit-in outside his home. Police responded by surrounding Diraz and restricting access.

An interior ministry statement said Tuesday's operation was undertaken to "safeguard public safety".

"During the operation, police authorities came under attack by members of a terrorist cell throwing fire bombs, metal rods, knives and axes forcing the security authorities to respond proportionately," it added.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Last June the authorities stripped Sheikh Isa Qassim of his Bahraini citizenship

"A total of 286 arrests were made, including fugitives that had escaped from Jaw Prison. Several terrorists and convicted felons were also apprehended with a large number of them hiding in the residence of Isa Qassim."

Nineteen officers were injured in the clashes and five deaths were "registered among the outlaws", another ministry statement said.

Witnesses said the raid on the sit-in triggered clashes, with officers firing birdshot and tear gas at demonstrators throwing stones and petrol bombs.

Photographs and videos circulated by activists showed a bulldozer smashing through a barrier and youths climbing on an armoured personnel carrier.

The UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said five peaceful demonstrators had been killed "in a heinous crime enabled by the unconditional support of the Bahraini rulers' key allies in Riyadh, Washington and London".

Amnesty International said one of those killed had suffered birdshot wounds to the head and called for an independent investigation into the police's use of "excessive force" against protesters it said were mostly peaceful.

Human Rights Watch said "the timing of this operation - two days after King Hamad's convivial meeting with President Trump - can hardly be a coincidence".

At a summit in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Mr Trump told Bahrain's ruler that its relations with the US would not be put under "strain" as they were during the Obama administration, which criticised the kingdom's human rights record.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Bahrain's King Hamad met US President Donald Trump at a summit in Riyadh on Sunday

A US state department official told AFP news agency on Tuesday that Washington was "concerned" by the reports of protesters' deaths and called "on all parties to contribute to a climate conducive for dialogue and reconciliation".

Bahrain has been wracked by unrest since security forces crushed pro-democracy protests mainly led by the majority Shia community during the Arab Spring in 2011.

King Hamad brought in troops from neighbouring Sunni-led Gulf states to end the demonstrations and restore order. The unrest left 30 civilians and five police dead.

Activists say dozens more people have been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces since then, while bomb attacks blamed on militants allegedly backed by Iran have killed a number of policemen.

The authorities have launched a wider crackdown on dissent over the past year that has included banning the main Shia political grouping, Wefaq, which was accused of fomenting sectarian unrest, and jailing its leader Sheikh Ali Salman.</s>Bahrain authorities say 286 people arrested in raid targeting Shiite cleric's town; five protesters killed.</s>Bahrain police on Tuesday opened fire on a long-running sit-in in support of a leading Shia cleric in the Sunni-ruled Gulf state, hit by years of unrest.

Eyewitnesses told a foreign agency there were multiple civilians wounded in the raid targeting the months-long sit-in in Diraz, the hometown of cleric Isa Qassim.

Qassim was sentenced on Sunday to a suspended one-year jail term for illegal fundraising and money laundering.

He was also stripped of citizenship last year, sparking the sit-in outside of his residence in Diraz.

Bahrain’s interior ministry on Tuesday said it had “launched a security operation in the village of Diraz to preserve security and civil order as the site is a safe haven for fugitives.”

Bahrain has been shaken by unrest since security forces crushed Shiite-led protests demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister in 2011.

Bahraini authorities have accused Shiite Iran of fomenting unrest in the kingdom. Tehran has consistently denied involvement.

The small Gulf state is a key regional ally of the United States and serves as home for its Fifth Fleet.

US President Donald Trump met with Bahrain’s King Hamad in Saudi Arabia at the weekend during his first foreign trip since taking office.

Despite repeated calls from their Western allies, Bahrain’s rulers have made no concessions to the Shiite opposition and have intensified a crackdown on critics.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain authorities say 286 people arrested in raid targeting Shiite cleric’s town; five protesters killed.</s>This image provided by an activist who requested to remain unnamed, shows Bahraini security forces during a raid on a sit-in demonstration, in Diraz, Bahrain, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Bahrain police raided a town where the sit-in has been going on for months in support of Sheikh Isa Qassim, a prominent Shiite cleric, who had his citizenship stripped by the government. An activist said one protester was killed. Bahrain's Interior Ministry said on Twitter Tuesday that the operation targeting Diraz was to "maintain security and public order."</s>This image provided by an activist who requested to remain unnamed, shows people treating a man who was injured in a raid on an sit-in, in Diraz, Bahrain, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Bahrain police raided a town where the sit-in has been going on for months in support of Sheikh Isa Qassim, a prominent Shiite cleric, who had his citizenship stripped by the government.

Start the conversation, or Read more at 680News.</s>This image provided by an activist who requested to remain unnamed, shows Bahraini security forces during a raid on a sit-in demonstration, in Diraz, Bahrain, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Bahrain police raided a town where the sit-in has been going on for months in support of Sheikh Isa Qassim, a prominent Shiite cleric, who had his citizenship stripped by the government. An activist said one protester was killed. Bahrain's Interior Ministry said on Twitter Tuesday that the operation targeting Diraz was to "maintain security and public order." (AP Photo)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain police raided a town Tuesday that is home to a prominent Shiite cleric facing possible deportation, arresting 286 people in an assault in which officers fired tear gas and shotguns at protesters. At least five demonstrators were killed and others wounded.

The Interior Ministry said the operation targeting Diraz, home to Sheikh Isa Qassim and a long-running sit-in supporting him, was to "maintain security and public order." It called the area a "haven for wanted fugitives from justice."

Activists shared photographs and videos showing youths throwing stones and climbing on an armored personnel carrier. Gunfire could be heard in one video as white smoke from tear gas hung in the air. Another video showed a bulldozer smashing through the area that once hosted the sit-in.

Police arrested 286 people, including "terrorists and convicted felons" who hid inside of Qassim's home, the Interior Ministry said. It said 19 members of the island's security forces were wounded in the raid that saw protesters throw gasoline bombs.

"Forces were able to remove a series of illegal road blocks and barricades," the ministry said in a statement. "Police remain deployed in the area to ensure the safety of people."

Amnesty International later said Qassim was not arrested.

At least five protesters were killed, activists and police said. Activists shared images of other protesters suffering what appeared to be birdshot wounds.

The operation followed a Sunday court decision giving Qassim a year's suspended prison sentence and seizing assets belonging to him and his ministry. Two of his aides received similar sentences.

Police have besieged Qassim's hometown of Diraz for months, tightly controlling access. He could be deported at any time after authorities stripped him of his citizenship last June over accusations that he fueled extremism. His supporters deny the allegations and called his trial politically motivated.

Shiites and others took part in 2011 Arab Spring protests for greater rights from the Sunni monarchy of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and an under-construction British naval base. Bahrain put down the protests with the help of forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Since then, Bahrain has seen low-level unrest. But a yearlong government crackdown on dissent has raised the stakes, with local Shiite militant groups claiming some attacks. Bahrain long has accused Iran of aiding militants, something the Shiite power denies.

Meanwhile, activists have been imprisoned or forced into exile. Independent news gathering on the island also has grown more difficult, with the government refusing to accredit two Associated Press journalists and others .

Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa met with U.S. President Donald Trump during a Sunday summit in Saudi Arabia. Already, Trump's administration had approved a multibillion-dollar sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain without the human rights conditions imposed by the State Department under President Barack Obama.

"Our countries have a wonderful relationship together but there has been a little strain but there won't be strain with this administration," Trump said Sunday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted Tuesday that the raid showed the "first concrete result of POTUS cozying up to despots in Riyadh." The Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah warned that any harm to Qassim, "will open the doors for unpredictable outcome and dangers."

Activists and rights group also warned Trump's embrace of Bahrain only will fuel the crackdown.

"The timing of this operation — two days after King Hamad's convivial meeting with President Trump — can hardly be a coincidence," said Nicholas McGeehan, a senior Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap . His work can be found at http://apne.ws/2galNpz .</s>This image provided by an activist who requested to remain unnamed, shows Bahraini security forces during a raid on a sit-in demonstration, in Diraz, Bahrain, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Bahrain police raided a town where the sit-in has been going on for months in support of Sheikh Isa Qassim, a prominent Shiite cleric, who had his citizenship stripped by the government.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Gazette.</s>Bahrain police firing tear gas and shotguns entered a town on Tuesday morning where a monthslong sit-in has supported a prominent Shiite cleric who had his citizenship stripped by the government. At least one protester was killed and others were wounded, activists said.

Bahrain's Interior Ministry earlier wrote on Twitter that the operation targeting Diraz was to "maintain security and public order." It called the area a "haven for wanted fugitives from justice."

It's unclear who the raid was targeting in Diraz, home to Sheikh Isa Qassim. Authorities offered no other details. Later, Bahrain's Interior Ministry later tweeted it had "arrested a number" of people wanted by authorities, without elaborating.

Activists shared mobile phone stills and videos showing youths throwing stones and climbing on an armored personnel carrier. Gunfire could be heard as white smoke from tear gas hung in the air.

At least one protester was killed, said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, the director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. Activists shared images of other protesters suffering what appeared to be birdshot wounds.

The operation follows a Sunday court decision giving Qassim a year's suspended prison sentence and seizing assets belonging to him and his ministry. Two of his aides received similar sentences.

Police have besieged Qassim's hometown of Diraz for months, tightly controlling access. He could be deported at any time after authorities stripped him of his citizenship last June over accusations that he fueled extremism. His supporters deny the allegations and called his trial politically motivated.

Shiites and others took part in 2011 Arab Spring protests for greater rights from the Sunni monarchy of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and an under-construction British naval base. Bahrain put down the protests with the help of forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Since then, Bahrain has seen low-level unrest. But the yearlong crackdown on dissent has raised the stakes, with local Shiite militant groups claiming some attacks. Bahrain long has accused Iran of aiding militants, something the Shiite power denies.

Meanwhile, activists have been imprisoned or forced into exile. Independent news gathering on the island also has grown more difficult, with the government refusing to accredit two Associated Press journalists and others .

Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa met with U.S. President Donald Trump during a Sunday summit in Saudi Arabia. Already, Trump's administration had approved a multibillion-dollar sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain without the human rights conditions imposed by the State Department under President Barack Obama.

"Our countries have a wonderful relationship together but there has been a little strain but there won't be strain with this administration," Trump said Sunday.

Activists and rights group warn Trump's embrace of Bahrain only will fuel the crackdown.

"The timing of this operation — two days after King Hamad's convivial meeting with President Trump — can hardly be a coincidence," said Nicholas McGeehan, a senior Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch.</s>FILE -- In this Sunday, May 21, 2017 file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Trump's administration had approved a multibillion-dollar sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain without the human rights conditions imposed by the State Department under President Barack Obama. On Tuesday May 23, 2017, Bahrain police raided a town where a sit-in has been going on for months supporting a prominent Shiite cleric who had his citizenship stripped by the government. Activists and rights group warn Trump's embrace of Bahrain only will fuel the crackdown.
Five people are killed in a raid on a house of a Shia cleric in Bahrain.