Nigeria has been accused of killing hundreds of Shia Muslims

Police have killed at least three Shia Muslim protesters after opening fire in the northern city of Kaduna, the spokesman for the religious minority in Nigeria said, as activists accused soldiers of having killed hundreds in "a massacre" in a nearby town in recent days.

But police spokesman Zubairu Abdullahi denied any killings and said Shia protesters tried to attack a police station on Tuesday. 

"We only repel the sect who attempted to attack our station," he said. "We only used tear gas to disperse them. Maybe in the process of dispersing them, they sustained injury, I don't know."

Spokesman Ibrahim Musa of the Shia Islamic Movement in Nigeria said three people were killed and 10 wounded when police shot "peaceful protesters."

Demonstrators were condemning the mass killings over the weekend and early Monday in the ancient Muslim university town of Zaria, and demanding the military release their leader, Ibraheem Zakzaky.

Amnesty International said in a statement on Tuesday evening that the shooting of members of the Shia group in Zaria "must be urgently investigated ... and anyone found responsible for unlawful killings must be brought to justice".

"Whilst the final death toll is unclear, there is no doubt of that there has been a substantial loss of life at the hands of the military," said M.K. Ibrahim, director of Amnesty International, Nigeria.

Musa said soldiers on Monday carried away about 200 bodies from around Zakzaky's home in Zaria, and hundreds more corpses are in the mortuary.

Human rights activists said hundreds, perhaps as many as 1,000, have been killed. Al Jazeera has not been able to verify the death toll.

The army said troops attacked sites in Zaria after 500 Shia demonstrators blocked the convoy of Nigeria's army chief, and tried to kill him on Saturday.

A report from the military police claimed that some were crawling through tall grass towards General Tukur Buratai's vehicle "with the intent to attack the vehicle with [a] petrol bomb" while others "suddenly resorted to firing gunshots from the direction of the mosque". 

Ojo Momodu, a witness, said the Shia protesters barricaded the road with burning tyres as Buratai approached and then stoned his convoy. The group, however, denied that it blocked the road.

The military raids on Zakzaky's home and spiritual centres in two other areas in Zaria reportedly began hours later.

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