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Three sons of Zakzaky killed in Nigeria massacre: Rights group

Saturday, 19 December 2015 7:15 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 19 December 2015 7:15 PM ]

Massoud Shadjareh, with the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), speaks to PressTV on December 19, 2015.

A rights advocacy group says three sons of prominent Nigerian Shia cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, were killed in the recent massacre of members of the Shia community in northern Nigeria.

In an interview with PressTV on Saturday, Massoud Shadjareh, with the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), said three sons of Zakzaky were killed in the Nigerian army’s attack on the cleric’s house last weekend.

Shadjareh said “we had the release of over 50 women and children, including the daughter of sheikh Zakzaky... but the sad news that the daughter gave was that three sons of Zakzaky were killed in the attack on the house.”

Nigeria's top Shia cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky

On December 12, more than a dozen people were killed after clashes erupted between the Nigerian army and Shia Muslims in Zaria, Kaduna State. The military accused the Shias of attempting to assassinate the chief of the Nigerian army staff. Nigerian soldiers opened fire on the people attending a religious ceremony at Hussainiyyah Baqeeyatullah, a religious center belonging to the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN).

One day later, the revered Nigerian cleric and his wife were arrested during a raid by the army on his residence and the buildings connected to the Shia community in the city. Local sources said hundreds of people trying to protect the cleric were killed.

Nigerian officials refuse to comment on the whereabouts of Zakzaky. His other son said on December 16 that the family has not been able to contact the cleric since his arrest. The IHRC said on the same day that there was credible evidence of mass graves in Nigeria following the deadly attack on Shias.

The rights group, which put the toll at over 1,000, said the Nigerian military had secretly buried hundreds of bodies in the graves after storming the house of the Shia cleric.

Zakzaky had also lost three other sons in the summer of 2014 during clashes between Shias and Nigerian soldiers on the International Quds day.

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