Nigerian Death Toll "Hits 500": New York Times

Journalist Adam Nossiter has filed a report with the New York Times confirming that over 500 people have been massacred in the most recent outbreak of religious violence in Nigeria.

Essentially all of the victims were Christians who were systematically slaughtered in well planned attacks on villages south of the city of Jos. Over 400 victims have been buried in a mass grave in just one village alone: Dogon Na Hawa.

Will Connors, writing for the Wall Street Journal, names four different villages that were attacked: Dogo Nahawa, Rasat, Zot and Shen. Connors description of how the attacks were carried out is chilling:

The attackers came at night and surrounded this small farming village, firing shots in the air to scare residents from their homes. Men, women and children were hacked with machetes as they rushed out. Several houses were set on fire with residents still inside . . . .

Officials and witnesses say the latest attack appeared well planned and brutally executed. The attackers didn't shoot victims, but rather shot into the air to lure residents out of their homes, where they awaited them with machetes.