Nigeria has sent more troops to the troubled city of Jos as clashes between Muslim and Christian groups, that have left about 460 people dead, spread to new districts.
Vice President Goodluck Jonathan ordered extra soldiers to Jos yesterday to clamp down on the violence as authorities enforced a 24-hour curfew.
The unrest began on Sunday over plans to build a mosque in a mainly Christian district of the city, which has been divided by sectarian tension for many years.
Gangs have set fire to buildings while many of the victims were shot dead.
Several hundred have been reported wounded and casualties have filled hospitals, wiht some clinics reportedly running out of medical supplies.
Residents said the fighting spread during the night to areas on the fringes of Jos.
The vice president vowed the government was 'determined (to) find a permanent solution to the Jos crisis'.
'This is one crisis too many and the federal government finds it most unacceptable, retrogressive and capable of further sundering the bonds of unity in our country,' Mr Jonathan said in a statement released by his office.
Mr Jonathan ordered Nigerian security chiefs to 'put in place comprehensive security strategies to ensure that these constant eruptions do not happen again'.
Jos, situated between the Muslim-dominated north and the Christian south, has in recent years been a hotbed of religious violence in Nigeria.
In November 2008, hundreds were killed in two days of fighting in the city triggered by a rumour that a mainly Muslim party had lost a local election to a Christian-dominated party.
