Iranians hold rallies in the
capital, Tehran, to protest Nigerian military’s crackdown on the Shia
Muslim community on December 18, 2015.
Iranians have staged
demonstrations in the capital, Tehran, and several other major cities
across the country to condemn Nigerian military’s bloody crackdown on
the Shia Muslim community in the African country.
Tehran saw people taking to the streets in droves after the Friday Prayers to show support for the Shia Muslims in Nigeria.
The
protesters chanted slogans and carried placards in condemnation of the
international community’s silence on the massacring of the oppressed
Nigerian Muslims.
Local media said on December 12 that more than a
dozen people were killed after clashes erupted between the Nigerian
army and Shia Muslims in the northern city of Zaria in Kaduna State.
The
clashes broke out when 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). The
Nigerian military accused the Shias of trying to stop the passing
convoy of Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf
Buratai.
The military accused the Shias of attempting to
assassinate Buratai - a charge Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, the IMN
leader, denied at the time. Top Nigerian Shia cleric, Ibrahim al-ZakzakyOne
day later, Zakzaky was arrested during a raid by the army on his
residence and the buildings connected to the Shia community in
Zaria. Local sources say hundreds of people trying to protect the cleric
were killed.
On Friday, Spokesman for the Islamic Movement of
Nigeria Ibrahim Musa told Press TV that Nigerian officials are
still withholding information about the whereabouts of top Muslim cleric
Sheikh.
Nigeria government plays into Israeli hands: Top cleric
Meanwhile,
a senior Iranian cleric on Friday condemned the recent bloody terrorist
attacks against Shia Muslims in Nigeria and said the Nigerian
government is playing into the hands of the Israeli regime and Takfiri
groups. Senior
Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami addresses worshipers during the
weekly Friday Prayers in Tehran on December 18, 2015. Speaking
during a sermon to worshipers at the weekly Friday Prayers in Tehran,
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami added that the horrendous crime that the
Nigerian army committed was beyond description.
He dismissed as a “lie” the Nigerian government’s claim that Muslims had blocked the army’s convoy.
Khatami
condemned the killing of hundreds of innocent people and burying them
in mass graves in Nigeria and said the Nigerian government must know
that it is playing into the hands of the Zionists and Daesh Takfiris by
committing such crimes.
The Iranian cleric urged the Nigerian government to stop committing such criminal acts against Shia Muslims.
The
Britain-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) said on Wednesday
that Nigerian military had secretly buried hundreds of bodies in mass
graves after it stormed al-Zakzaky’s house.
The IHRC chairman,
Massoud Shadjareh, has also confirmed that more than 1,000 people were
systematically killed in the Nigerian army’s brutal raid on Shia
Muslims.
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