Hundreds killed in Nigerian ethnic attack

Hundreds of Muslims have been killed by Christian militia in ethnic fighting in the central Nigerian town of Yelwa, a police officer said yesterday.

Mutilated and charred corpses were still lying on the main street of the remote market town yesterday as thousands of Muslims lined the roadside chanting religious slogans and vowing revenge on the attackers.

"Allah will avenge us. The pagans have killed our people," said one man. "There will be religious war in this country," said another. Many had white powder marks on their noses, a sign of mourning.

The conflict between the Tarok, a Christian tribe of farmers, and the Fulani, nomadic Muslim cattle herders, is rooted in competing claims over the fertile farmland of southern Plateau state in the heart of Africa's most populous nation.

One witness said hundreds of heavily armed Tarok militia began the attack on Sunday night by sealing all the roads to the town. They invaded on foot and in jeeps, shooting semi-automatic rifles and burning houses.

A senior policeman, who asked not to be named, told Reuters: "Hundreds of people including students, women and children were killed."

His estimate was supported by one villager who said more than 300 people were buried in mass graves he helped to dig on Monday, the second day of the killings.

The police had previously reported "heavy casualties" and said they recovered 67 corpses. A Reuters witness counted another 10 yesterday.

Almost every house lining the main street of Yelwa was burned and some were still smouldering yesterday. A mosque was also destroyed. Charred beds, mattresses and kitchen utensils were scattered on the ground.