Tensions rise in Nigeria as clash toll hits 630

Reporters and rescuers found a fresh 50 by 10 metre burial plot behind a traditional chief's house in Yelwa, a rural community in a strife-torn region of central Nigeria which was attacked late Sunday by heavily armed militants.

"We buried over 630 people. Some people were buried in their back yards. They just attacked us because we are Muslims," said Yakubu Haruna, Yelwa's 35-year-old local councillor, to general agreement from onlookers.

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"The figure is correct. All the bodies were gathered at the traditional leader's house and then were buried behind it," Umar Abdu Mamairiga, the Nigerian Red Cross's national disaster management officer, told AFP.

"They are talking about 630, but there might be more given the number of wounded," he added. A previous official toll for the fighting had been 67, and a police officer at the scene played down the local people's claims.