Nigeria: 15 people are dead in Nigeria after protests against cartoons of Prophet Mohammed. Rioters in Borno burned churches, hotels, shops and vehicles.
Police and soldiers patrolled the deserted streets of the northern Nigerian town on Sunday after thousands of Nigerian Muslims protest caricatures of Mohammed.
Police have reportedly arrested over 100 people. Nigeria is almost equally divided between Christians in the south and Muslims in the north. The predominantly Muslim state of Borno is one of 12 northern states that introduced Sharia law in 2000.
Since then, thousands have died in Christian-Muslim conflicts.
On Saturday, rioters burned 15 Christian churches in Maiduguri in a three–hour rampage before troops and police reinforcements restored order, Nigerian police spokesman Haz Iwendi said. Security forces arrested dozens of people suspected of taking part in the violence, Iwendi said.
An Associated Press reporter on the scene saw mobs of Muslim protesters swarm through the city center with machetes, sticks and iron rods. One group threw a tire around one man, poured gas on him and set him ablaze.
Witnesses said three children and a Catholic priest were among those killed.
(With AP inputs)
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