The number of people killed in the fighting between Christians and Muslims in Jos in Nigeria is increasing rapidly.

So far, nearly 200 corpses have been brought to the city's most important mosque, which is reporting that at least 800 people have been injured. A night-time curfew has been extended for 24 hours in an attempt to put an end to the violence.

Extra police and soldiers had already been deployed on the streets but sporadic gunfire can still be heard in various parts of the central Nigerian city. Houses have been torched and the fighting has forced thousands of residents of Jos to flee their homes.

Tension between Christians and Muslims has led to outbreaks of violence in Jos in the past. The city is on the border between the largely Christian south and the Muslim-dominated north.

photo: market square in Jos (flickr / Jonathan D. Blundell)