At least eight dead in Nigerian rioting

Places of worship were burned and an unknown number of people were killed as angry bands of Muslims and Christians rioted in the streets of the northern Nigerian city of Kano, witnesses and police said.

The spark behind the latest outbreak of inter-religious violence in northern Nigeria was not immediately clear, although it occurred a day after Muslim fundamentalists clashed with police during a street protest against US-led air strikes on Afghanistan.

Witnesses counted at least eight bodies on the streets of Sabon Gari, a neighbourhood in the northern part of the city, some 450 miles northeast of the commercial capital, Lagos. There were unconfirmed reports of many more dead.

Some residents were taking shelter in police stations while many others were hiding in their homes. Local journalists said several churches and mosques had been at least partially burned by angry mobs.

Kano police commissioner Yakubu Bello Uba said he had ordered his officers to shoot protesters and combatants "on sight".

On Friday, police fired tear gas to break up a protest by hundreds of angry Nigerian Muslim youths decrying US-led air strikes on Afghanistan.

Several people were injured and three vehicles - including a police truck - were burned.