Mayhem in Jos again... 4 killed, Scores injured

 
At least four people were reported killed in a riot in Jos on Monday between Christians and Muslims groups.

According to the Associated Press, officers of the Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said the fighting began Monday in Jos after Muslims began praying in a predominantly Christian neighborhood in the city. Officials with a local Muslim group said the unidentified attackers used knives, machetes and bows and arrows.

Witnesses told the Associated Press that more than 50 vehicles and 100 motorcycles were set ablaze during the fighting.

The Special Military Task Force (STF) and the police moved into the affected neighborhood late Monday.

Jos has been the center of religious and ethnic conflicts in recent times. According to Human Rights Watch, last year alone, over 500 people were killed in the conflicts. It is estimated that in the last ten years, over five thousand people have died in series of ethnic and religious crises in the area.

This recent incident in Jos is coming at the wake of a suicide bomb attack of the United Nation's headquarters in Nigeria's capital Abuja in which over 23 people died.

The spokesperson for the Jama' atu ahlis Sunna Wal'da'awati wal Jihad popularly called Boko Haram Sect Abu Kaka took responsibility for the attack in a teleconference with reporters in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.

It was the second attack of that magnitude in the capital of Nigeria in three months.