ABUJA, Nigeria - Bands of Muslim and Christian youths have killed several people in an outbreak of religious violence in the central Nigerian city of Jos, residents said on Saturday.
"We have heard of several people killed. I personally know some people have been killed," a resident told Reuters by telephone.
"Shops are closed and sections of the town have been cut off by youths manning road blocks," he said.
Authorities decreed a night curfew on the hilly tin mining city on Friday, the day clashes erupted at the end of Muslim prayers and after churches and mosques were set on fire. Police have not issued casualty figures.
Official sources said authorities in Plateau State, of which Jos is the capital, had asked President Olusegun Obasanjo to send in the army to help restore order. One source said soldiers had been mobilised in readiness to help police who were struggling to contain the unrest.
06:43 09-08-01
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