Manama: Two US Navy sailors were fatally shot and another critically wounded at the American Naval Support Activity in Manama, the Navy said in a statement sent to Gulf News.
"The shootings took place in the on-base barracks at about 5 am, local time. Two sailors were pronounced dead at the scene and the third was taken to a local hospital for treatment," the Navy said, adding that the incident was under investigation.
Officials closed the base located in Juffair, in the outskirts of Manama, for about one hour and reopened it shortly after 6 am.
The Navy said that initial reports indicate the incident involved US military personnel only.
The names of the dead and wounded sailors were being withheld pending notification of next of kin, the military said. Sources told Gulf News that they believed the two dead victims were women and the injured sailor was a man.
Bahrain News Agency reported that the shooting was an internal matter with no outside links.
About 3,000 American personnel live and work on the base. Fatal incidents involving US sailors are extremely rare in Bahrain, a major non-Nato ally and home to the Navy's Fifth Fleet, which operates in the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean.
