Nairobi/Abuja (Earth Times) - At least 150 more bodies have been found after clashes between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria's Plateau State, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Saturday. The bodies, some of which had been thrown into wells and sewage canals, were found in the village of Kuru Karama, 30 kilometers outside the city of Jos, where the sectarian violence began last Sunday.
According to the organization, dozens of people in the predominantly Muslim village were missing.
According to witnesses, armed men surrounded the village on Tuesday and attacked it. Almost all the houses and the three mosques of the village were set ablaze and destroyed.
The Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust on Saturday reported further violence in other cities in Plateau State. Local media stated that violence developed in villages outlying Jos as there has no been curfew or military presence there.
Before the casualties were found, at least 200 people were said to have been killed in the battles around Jos - which lies between the Muslim-majority north and the largely Christian south and has a history of violence.
Christian and Muslim mobs fought for days, burning and looting homes, churches and mosques and forcing thousands to fell.
The army sent heavily armed troops to the area and the governor of Plateau State - of which Jos is the capital - ordered a round-the- clock curfew.
Blessing Ejiofor, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, estimated that 18,000 people fled the violence.
"Our team in Jos say that the city is really calm, because of the army and police," Ejiofor told the German Press Agency dpa, adding that there were, however, rumors of skirmishes at the outskirts of the city.
Over 200 people were arrested during the crackdown on the violence. The Red Cross reported that 22 of those arrested were suffering from bullet wounds, machete cuts and fractures.
As many as 1,000 people are believed to have been injured.
It is still not clear what sparked the violence, although some reports claim it followed an argument over the rebuilding of a Muslim home - destroyed during previous violence - in a Christian neighborhood.
Clashes in Jos in 2008 also left hundreds dead, while 2001 saw up to 1,000 lose their lives in rioting. Poverty and land issues are believed to be the root causes of the violence.
According to the organization, dozens of people in the predominantly Muslim village were missing.
According to witnesses, armed men surrounded the village on Tuesday and attacked it. Almost all the houses and the three mosques of the village were set ablaze and destroyed.
The Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust on Saturday reported further violence in other cities in Plateau State. Local media stated that violence developed in villages outlying Jos as there has no been curfew or military presence there.
Before the casualties were found, at least 200 people were said to have been killed in the battles around Jos - which lies between the Muslim-majority north and the largely Christian south and has a history of violence.
Christian and Muslim mobs fought for days, burning and looting homes, churches and mosques and forcing thousands to fell.
The army sent heavily armed troops to the area and the governor of Plateau State - of which Jos is the capital - ordered a round-the- clock curfew.
Blessing Ejiofor, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, estimated that 18,000 people fled the violence.
"Our team in Jos say that the city is really calm, because of the army and police," Ejiofor told the German Press Agency dpa, adding that there were, however, rumors of skirmishes at the outskirts of the city.
Over 200 people were arrested during the crackdown on the violence. The Red Cross reported that 22 of those arrested were suffering from bullet wounds, machete cuts and fractures.
As many as 1,000 people are believed to have been injured.
It is still not clear what sparked the violence, although some reports claim it followed an argument over the rebuilding of a Muslim home - destroyed during previous violence - in a Christian neighborhood.
Clashes in Jos in 2008 also left hundreds dead, while 2001 saw up to 1,000 lose their lives in rioting. Poverty and land issues are believed to be the root causes of the violence.
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