DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Hundreds of people are protesting outside the home of a Shiite sheikh, a mark of growing unrest in Bahrain sparked by the government's new crackdown on opposition groups.

Demonstrators have been outside Sheikh Isa Qassim's home in Diraz since Tuesday, when Bahrain's Sunni-ruled government stripped him of his citizenship.

The government accuses the sheikh of creating an extremist sectarian atmosphere and of forming groups that "follow foreign religious ideologies and political entities," an apparent reference to Shiite-majority Iran. However, his supporters and human rights groups have criticized the government's decision, calling it a heavy-handed crackdown designed to silence all dissent on the tiny island.

Bahrain has faced low-level unrest since its 2011 Arab Spring-inspired protests, when its Shiite majority and others called for more political freedoms.