DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—A court in Bahrain ordered the country’s main Shiite opposition group to be dissolved on Sunday, local media reported, deepening a crackdown on dissent in the strategically important Western-allied kingdom.
The order against al-Wefaq marks one of the sharpest blows yet against civil society activists in the Sunni-ruled island nation, which was rocked by widespread protests led by its Shiite majority demanding political reforms five years ago.
Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, crushed the 2011 protests with help from its larger neighbors Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But ongoing, low-level and occasionally violent unrest continues to roil the kingdom despite reforms put in place following the Arab Spring-inspired uprising.
Bahraini dailies Al-Ayam and Al-Wasat said Sunday’s ruling calls for the group’s assets to be liquidated and transferred to the state treasury.
