The government of Bahrain has revoked the nationality of 72 citizens on grounds of damaging national security, the state BNA news agency has reported.
It says that the measures have been implemented in part to “preserve security and stability and fight the danger of terrorist threats”.
Correspondents say it is the largest number of Bahrainis to be stripped of their nationality since 2013.
At that time a law was introduced to punish people convicted of terrorism.
Bahrain has been wracked by unrest since an uprising in 2011 in which the Shia majority demanded democratic reforms from the Sunni-led government.
Tensions have been high since elections in November were boycotted by the opposition, who said parliament lacked sufficient powers and that constituency boundaries had been redrawn to favour their supporters.