Manama: Bahrain on Wednesday imposed a 12-hour curfew alongside a highway in central Manama and banned gatherings and demonstrations in the country.
In a communiqué read on Bahrain TV, a curfew is imposed between 4pm and 4am alongside the highway from the Saif Flyover until the traffic lights before the Shaikh Eisa Bin Salman Bridge, a stretch of about six and a half kilometres.
The flyover is a few hundred metres from the Pearl Roundabout, the epicentre of protests for a month, while Shaikh Eisa bridge is one of the three terrestrial links between Manama, the capital, and Muharraq, the second largest city.
The highway, the main artery in the capital, was shut down for three days by protesters who poured sand and placed blocks, bricks and pipes. It was cleared on Wednesday afternoon, but has not yet been opened to traffic.
The curfew area also includes 400 metres on either side of the highway, the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) said.
People living in the area should coordinate with the checkpoints to ease their movements, according to the BDF.
"Gatherings, rallies, demonstrations and sit-ins are banned throughout Bahrain until the situation is back to normal," the statement said.
The BDF urged all citizens and residents to "cooperate fully with the checkpoints for the sake of their safety" and warned that "anyone who violates these measures will face the appropriate legal action".
