At least 149 people have been killed during two days of violence between Christian¹ and Muslim gangs in the Nigerian city of Jos, officials say.

尼日利亚城市乔斯，基督教徒与穆斯林教徒发生暴力冲突，持续两天的冲突造成至少149人丧生。

Mosque² workers and Muslim clerics told reporters of the deaths as they prepared for a mass burial.

The death toll死亡人数 has not been verified核实 independently and it is not known how many Christians⁴ have died.

Nigeria's vice-president has ordered troops to help police restore恢复，修复 order and also dispatched派遣 top security officials.

It is believed to be the first time Goodluck Jonathan has used executive powers since President Umaru Yar'Adua left Nigeria for hospital treatment in Saudi Arabia in November.

The clashes broke out on Sunday and have continued since, with reports of gunfire and burning buildings.

A 24-hour curfew宵禁 has been enforced in the area, which has seen several bouts⁵发作，回合 of deadly violence in recent years.

At least 200 people were killed in an outbreak of fighting between Muslims and Christians in 2008, while some 1,000 died in a riot in 2001.

Violence spreading

The current violence has forced at least 3,000 people from their homes.

Balarabe Dawud, head of the Central Mosque in Jos, told AFP news agency he had counted 192 bodies since Sunday.

Muhammad Tanko Shittu, a mosque worker who was helping⁷ to prepare mass burials, told Reuters he had counted 149 bodies.

"On Sunday evening we buried 19 corpses尸体, and 52 yesterday. As of right now, there are 78 at the mosque yet to be buried," he said.

Anglican Archbishop of Jos Benjamin Kwashi told the BBC that the situation was improving in the city centre, where security forces have been deployed⁹.

But the violence spread beyond the city boundaries on Tuesday to neighbouring areas.

Jos is in Nigeria's volatile¹⁰爆炸性的，不稳定的 Middle Belt - between the mainly Muslim north and the south where the majority is Christian or follow traditional religions.

Correspondents say such clashes in Nigeria are often blamed on sectarianism宗派主义.

However, poverty and access to resources such as land often lie at the root of the violence.

It is unclear what the trigger was for the latest bout⁶ of violence.

Plateau State spokesman Dan Manjang told the BBC's Network Africa programme there were reports that it may have started after a football match.

But he said it would be surprising if football was the reason.

Reuters路透社 quoted residents as saying the violence started after an argument over the rebuilding of homes destroyed in the 2008 clashes.