In Nigeria, some 500 people are now reported to have been killed in the weekend revenge attack following religious clashes near the city of Jos. Local officials said the figure had previously been put at about 100 but it is difficult to verify the casualties. They said dozens of arrests had been made.<br/> The officials said three mainly Christian villages near Jos were attacked from nearby hills by people with machetes. According to some witnesses, the villagers were caught in fishing nets and animal traps as they tried to escape and were then hacked to death. Mud huts were also set on fire. Scores of bodies have been laid out in the streets of the three attacked villages, awaiting mass burials today. <br/> The International Committee of the Red Cross said hundreds of people have fled from Jos in the aftermath of the fighting. Meanwhile, the acting President Goodluck Jonathan has put security forces on alert to stop the flow of weapons to the area. The attacks are said to have been in revenge for the killing of several hundred people around Jos in January There is a long history of local tension between Muslims and Christians.<br/>