Ethnic Violence in Nigeria Kills 500, Officials Say — New York Times

DAKAR, Senegal — Officials and human rights groups in Nigeria said Monday that about 500 people had died in weekend ethnic violence near the central city of Jos, considerably more than what had initially been reported.

A government spokesman said Sunday that the dead numbered more than 300. The victims were Christians killed by rampaging Muslim herdsmen, officials and human rights workers said, apparently in reprisal for similar attacks on Muslims in January.

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Hundreds slaughtered in Nigeria religious violence — AP
Nigeria violence: Muslim-Christian clashes kill hundreds — Christian Science Monitor
Attacks in Nigeria left 500 dead: reports — CBC
Attack on Nigerian town kills hundreds — CNN
Massacre in Nigerian village leaves 500 dead — Sydney Morning Herald
Hundreds dead as more religious violence hits Nigeria — The Guardian
Hundreds killed in violence in Nigeria — RTE News
Nigerian security forces on alert after new burst of sectarian violence — Times Online
Nigeria violence in Jos: Q&A – BBC

Image from Site Intel Group

It was too soon to say that Osama bin Laden’s followers were on the wane—but pessimism should not be overdone.

ONLY a few months ago, intelligence experts were saying that al-Qaeda and its allies were in decline, both militarily and ideologically.

The 24 hour curfew has been lifted in Nigeria’s Jos region as violence there has subsided. With the lifting of the curfew people will begin to return to their homes and the injured will begin to be treated.

Al Qaeda Hurts Muslims Most — Washington Times

Study finds much smaller toll on its Western targets.

Muslims are the main victims of al Qaeda’s deadly terrorist attacks against the West, despite claims by the group’s leaders that only a few Muslims have died in the organization’s global war against Westerners, according to a study by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, N.Y.

In 2007, al Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri said in a document he wrote called the “The Power of Truth” that “we haven’t killed the innocents; not in Baghdad, nor in Morocco, nor in Algeria, nor anywhere else.

Religious violence in Malaysia escalated on Sunday after three more churches were attacked in an unprecedented wave of assaults on Christian houses of worship.

No one was hurt in the latest upsurge of violence which saw two churches firebombed and a third dubbed with black paint in a row sparked by a court decision allowing non-Muslims to use the word “Allah” in place of God in their literature and worship.

Four other churches in Kuala Lumpur were firebombed on Friday and Saturday amid outrage in the Muslim-majority country over the court’s move to overturn a government prohibition on the use of Allah by Christians when using the Malay language.

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More Malaysia churches attacked — Al Jazeera
More Malaysian churches attacked in Allah dispute — BBC
Three More Churches, Catholic School Attacked in Malaysia — Voice of America
Malaysian churches attacked in feud — Press Association
Malaysia’s Prime Minister intervenes to defuse religious violence — Times Online
Will Najib Razak Reform Malaysia? — Karim Raslan, Wall Street Journal
Can Christians Say ‘Allah’? In Malaysia, Muslims Say No — Time Magazine