Over 100 dead in new Jos violence

Witnesses have reported dozens of bodies piled up in the village of Dogo Nahawa, just south of Jos. Residents say pastoralists staged an overnight raid, shooting into the air before slashing those who came out of their homes with machetes.

Some of the dead are children of less than young as one-year-old, according to anonymous local officials talking to the AFP news agency.

The wounded have been taken to the Plateau State Hospital in Jos.

Some reports put the death toll over 200 and Human Rights Watch says that the violence was a sectarian clash between Muslims and Christians.

This latest unrest comes as acting President Goodluck Jonathan tries to assert his authority and the elected President Umaru Yar'Adua remains too sick to govern.

Former military ruler General Mohamadu Buhari on Saturday warned that the country could become another Somalia if the current power struggle in Abuja is not dealt with carefully.

Buhari toppled the elected government of president Shehu Shagari in 1983. He was speaking during a book lunch in Lagos.

His remarks have raised fears that the military might capitalise on the confusion caused by Yar'Adua's poor health to seize power.