400+ Dead in Nigerian Muslim-Christian Clash

The Guardian reports:

Officials were counting the dead in a central Nigerian city yesterday after two days of violent clashes between Christian and Muslim gangs.

Nearly 400 bodies are reported to have been received at the main mosque in Jos, while there are also expected to be a significant number of Christian casualties. Thousands of people fled their homes in the city after rival mobs burned houses, shops, and several churches and mosques in the worst sectarian violence in the country since 2004. [...]

The violence was triggered by elections in Plateau state, where Jos is the capital. It sits at the fertile crossroads between Nigeria’s Christian south and Muslim north, and has a history of religious strife.

The mainly Christian-backed People’s Democratic party, which currently holds federal power, was reported to have won the poll – the first in Jos in more than a decade – on Thursday. But supporters of the All Nigeria People’s party, which has strong Muslim support, suspected vote-rigging after the official results were not posted at the ballot counting centres. [...]

Patrolling on foot and in armoured personnel carriers, soldiers detained more than 500 people. The road from the north was blocked and flights to the city cancelled. [...]

Dan Tom, a Nigerian Red Cross official, said some bodies had not yet been cleared off the streets. “Over 10,000 people have been displaced from their homes and are now seeking refuge in churches, mosques, and army and police barracks,” he said. [End]

In a sense of cosmic irony, the Vatican just recently launched a Muslim-Christian dialogue.