After two days of mob violence, an uneasy calm returned Sunday to this central Nigerian town. Women with plastic buckets ventured out in search of water and many of the dead were buried.

Troops on foot and in armored personnel carriers appeared Sunday to have quelled two days of ethnic and religious rioting that left more than 300 people dead in Jos, apparently ending the worst violence in the West African nation since 2004.

Streets stayed mostly empty, but hunger and thirst forced some residents out of their homes for the first time since the riots began Friday after a disputed election. Hundreds of women and girls, who wouldn't be considered combatants by soldiers with orders to shoot troublemakers on sight, carried buckets and cans to public water points.

"There's no water in the house. Our children are crying for water, and all the shops are closed. Even the last food we have, we can't cook because we have no water," said Hawa Ismailah, a Muslim housewife with 24 people cowering in her home.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

Registered members must log in to comment.