Bahraini security forces have attacked the headquarters of the country’s main opposition bloc, al-Wefaq, in the capital, Manama.

Bahraini security forces have attacked the headquarters of the country's main opposition bloc, al-Wefaq, in the capital, Manama.

Activists say several people were injured after regime troops attacked the building on Friday using tear gas.

"Security forces fired directly at the premises of the group... where several leaders and members had gathered," said Al-Wefaq, which has its main office in the outskirts of Manama.

Al-Wefaq party was holding its weekly meeting at the time of the attack. The meeting was forcibly broken up by regime forces.

Bahrain's Interior Ministry on Thursday banned al-Wefaq leaders from holding their weekly meeting.

Police deployed in force to the surrounding areas to prevent a rally called by opposition groups and fired "tear gas and rubber bullets... [leaving] several people wounded, including children," Al-Wefaq statement read.

Several people present at Wefaq's headquarters, including the group's deputy secretary general Sheikh Houssein al-Dihi and an American journalist, suffered from tear gas inhalation, it added.

"We are a people that does not bend. This savage repression only strengthens our determination to continue to fight for the defense of our national rights," the text quoted Sheikh Dihi as saying.

Regime forces also attacked anti-government protesters in several towns and villages near Manama, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

Bahrainis have been holding street protests demanding an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa dynasty since mid-February. Peaceful demonstrators are attacked with live rounds and tear gas.

On November 23, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, set up to investigate reports of rights abuse during the crackdown, announced that the regime had used ''excessive force'' to crush the uprising.

Bahraini opposition say nothing has changed since the government-authorized international investigation publicized last month found numerous human rights abuses.