Bahraini security forces fired birdshot and tear gas to disperse protesters in Shiite villages around the capital, witnesses said yesterday, as police announced the arrest of 11 “saboteurs”.

Several protesters were wounded as police dispersed demonstrations overnight that were called by the “Youth Coalition of February 14″ to mark the Sunni-ruled, Shiite-majority Gulf state’s independence, witnesses said.

The number of casualties was difficult to assess, as protesters stay away from hospitals for fear of being arrested. The interior ministry said: “Several areas of Bahrain witnessed riots and vandalism and attempts to block vital roads.”

An “illegal demonstration” took place in the village of Bani Jamra where protesters hurled “petrol bombs and metal rods,” it added. “Security forces managed to arrest 11 saboteurs, who are currently being referred to the public prosecution.”

The ministry also said that a group of “saboteurs” used petrol bombs to attack a car being driven by a woman, at the entrance to the Shiite village of Abu Saybi.

Sporadic demonstrations in Shiite villages have intensified since last year’s crackdown, which ended month-long protests dominated by Shiites in the capital Manama. Bahrain won independence from Britain on Aug 15, 1971.

But the kingdom, which is ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty does not celebrate independence. Instead, it observes the coronation of former ruler Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa as National Day.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s public prosecution said the number of people detained over protests since Feb 2011 had reached 923, contesting a claim by the Shiite opposition that 4,500 people were arrested.

Separately, Bahrain’s appeals court postponed yesterday its verdict in the case of 13 leading opposition figures facing jail sentences over charges of plotting to overthrow the Gulf monarchy, lawyers said. The defendants who played leading roles in the month-long protests last year demanding drastic democratic reforms did not turn up in court, lawyers said, adding that the court set Sept 4 as a new date for its verdict.

The 13 activists are being retried in a civil court after they were convicted, along with seven others who remain at large, of plotting to topple the Sunni ruling family. Another defendant was acquitted.

The prosecution has dropped charges “related to the freedom of expression”, for saying things that were considered illegal in the past. On trial is activist Abdulhadi Khawaja who ended in June a 110-day hunger strike.

Also on trial Hasan Musheime and Abdel Jalil Al-Sankis, both leaders of the Shiite Haq banned movement, as well as Sunni leftist Ibrahim Sharif, who heads the secular Waed group. In June last year, a specially formed tribunal handed down lengthy jail terms against the 21 mostly Shiite activists after convicting them of plotting to overthrow the regime. Ten months later, Bahrain’s highest appeals court ordered a retrial.

Bahrain came under strong criticism from international human rights organisations over last year’s crackdown on the Shiite-led protests.

An international panel commissioned by King Hamad to probe the government’s clampdown found out that excessive force and torture had been used against protesters and detainees.