Authorities in the central Nigerian city of Jos extended a curfew and ordered the army to shoot on sight yesterday to stop more clashes between ethnic and religious gangs after fighting killed scores of people.

The governor of Plateau state, of which Jos is the capital, imposed a 24-hour curfew on neighbourhoods of the city that have been racked by violence in which rival gangs burned churches and mosques, forcing thousands to flee their homes.

A statement from the governor's office, read out on local radio, said the security forces had been directed to shoot on sight to enforce the measure. Sporadic violence had continued overnight despite a previous dawn-to-dusk curfew.

Gunfire and explosions heard in the early hours of the morning died down and many streets in the city, which lies at the crossroads between Nigeria's mostly Muslim north and mostly Christian south, were deserted as the military patrolled.

"There are Hausas and Beroms who want to fight each other and the army is in the middle trying to create a buffer zone," one resident said.