The Nigerian army says it has regained¹ control of the city of Jos, where fighting between Muslims and Christians³ in recent days has left scores dead.

尼日利亚军队已重新夺取乔斯城的控制权，最近几日该城发生穆斯林和天主教徒暴力冲突，造成多人死亡。

There is a 24-hour curfew in the city and the army is on patrol

Lt Col Shekari Galadima told the BBC the city was "very calm" as the army was enforcing强迫，强制 a 24-hour curfew宵禁. He insisted there would be no more riots暴乱，骚动.

But a BBC reporter in the region says the violence has now spread to Pankshin town, 100km (60 miles) from Jos.

Religious officials said at least 265 people had died since Sunday.

Among the dead were said to be 65 Christians and 200 Muslims.

Muhammad Tanko Shittu, a senior mosque清真寺 official organising mass burials, gave a much higher death toll死亡人数 - telling Reuters news agency more than 350 Muslims had died.

He said the death toll⁵ had risen as workers retrieved⁶恢复，补偿 bodies from areas outside the city of Jos on Wednesday.

The figures could not be independently verified验证，核实.

Jos has been blighted⁷毁灭，衰退 by religious violence over the past decade with deadly riots in 2001 and 2008.

The city is in Nigeria's volatile⁸爆发性的，不稳定的 Middle Belt - between the mainly Muslim north and the south where the majority is Christian² or follow traditional religions.

Violence spreading

Col Galadima told the BBC's Network Africa programme that Jos city "has been brought under control tremendously".

"Because of the 24-hour curfew imposed by the government, movement has been restricted so you cannot have any riots or any demonstrations⁹ going on," he said.

The Associated Press reported that soldiers with machine guns were patrolling in pick-up trucks and residents were stopping and raising their hands to show they were not a threat as the trucks passed.

Meanwhile, the BBC Hausa Service's Shehu Saulawa says the violence appears to have spread to the town of Pankshin.

On Wednesday morning, one resident of Pankshin told our reporter by telephone the fighting began at 2230 (2130 GMT) on Tuesday.

He said the unrest had continued into Wednesday morning but no soldiers could be seen on the streets.

Another family told the BBC they had fled the town to neighbouring Bauchi State to escape the violence.

But Plateau State spokesman Dan Manjang dismissed摒弃，解散 the accounts from Pankshin as "rumours¹⁰".