Potiskum, Nigeria, 4 Nov - (ANA) - A suicide bomber has killed 15 worshippers at a Shia religious ceremony in north-eastern Nigeria's Potiskum town, a Shia leader has said. Security forces killed another five people after arriving at the scene and opening fire, he said. The military has not commented on the allegation. No group has said it carried out the attack, but suspicion is bound to fall on militant Sunni Islamist group Boko Haram.

It denounces Shias, a minority in Nigeria, as non-Muslims. The bomber detonated himself after joining worshippers who were marching to mark Ashura, a solemn day when Shias mourn the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in 680 AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq, witnesses told the BBC Hausa service. A police officer at the scene who requested anonymity told the AFP news agency: "It was a huge crowd and many of them were affected." (ANA)

FA/ANA/4 November 2014----------