The Human Rights Watch accused on Wednesday the Nigerian soldiers of "killing unarmed Shiite children with no provocation before unjustified raids" that killed hundreds of the community in the country 12 days weeks ago.

The Human Rights Watch accused on Wednesday the Nigerian soldiers of "killing unarmed Shiite children with no provocation before unjustified raids" that killed hundreds of the community in the country 12 days weeks ago.

"It is almost impossible to see how a roadblock by angry young men could justify the killings of hundreds of people. At best it was a brutal overreaction and at worst it was a planned attack on the minority Shia group," said the Africa director of Human Rights Watch, Daniel Bekele.

The Nigerian army committed on Dec. 12 a massacre against the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) killing dozens of faithful who were attending a religious ceremony in Hussainiyyah Baqeeyatullah in the northern city of Zaria. The second day, the army raided Sheikh Zakzaky’s house without any charge or previous notification, arrested him and killed his wife.

Two days after the massacre, Nigerian troops evacuated in trucks the bodies of the martyrs and buried them to hide to hide tolls, the same way used by Al-Saud to evacuate the bodies of the pilgrims who died during the Mina stampede in Saudi Arabia this year.

As many as 1,000 people may have been killed in Nigeria, rights activists say, protests were held in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north and have been spread to Tehran, Beirut and New Delhi.

The IMN said Tuesday that people wounded in the attacks are dying in military and police detention because they are being denied medical care, including head of the movement, Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky.

IMN Spokesman Ibrahim Musa also said the Kaduna state government has destroyed the property of the movement followers, estimated 3 million followers, adding that an IMN-led school and cemetery were bulldozed Monday.