AFRICA/NIGERIA - Clashes between the army and members of a radical Shiite movement

Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - Dozens of people were killed in clashes between the Nigerian army and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, a group formed by Islamist Shiites, in Zaria, in the north of the Country.
A spokesman of the IMN says that in the clashes, which occurred between 12 and 13 December, dozens of activists of the movement were killed and hundreds more were injured or arrested.
Fighting erupted when the convoy carrying the Chief of Staff of the army, General Yusuf Buratai, visiting Zaria, found himself stuck because of a religious event organized by IMN.
According to the army, it was an attempt to attack the convoy to assassinate the General. A fact that the spokesman of the IMN vehemently denied.
In response the military attacked the local headquarters of the movement and besieged the house of its leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky, who was later arrested. Some senior members of the IMN were killed by the military.
Northern Nigeria is majority Muslim and largely Sunni.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Tehran expressed concern about the incidents in Zaria. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 14/12/2015)

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