18 killed in Nigeria violence

At least 18 people were killed and seven injured in an attack on a village in northern Nigeria’ s restive Plateau state, police said.

The attack on Belle village took place Tuesday morning, Xinhua reported.

Some of the invaders also were killed during the attack, police spokesperson Apev Jacob said in Jos, the state capital.

“The attackers fled before the security operatives arrived at the scene,” he said.

The Plateau state is situated in Nigeria’s middle belt where the Muslim-dominated north and the Christian-majority south meet. It has seen years of ethnic tensions and is a major potential flashpoint ahead of the April presidential elections.

The state capital was plunged in a pool of blood March 7, 2010, when members of Muslim and Christian communities fought each other in revenge for previous killings. More than 100 people were killed in the clashes.

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