(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/74991000/jpg/_74991503_464x2.jpg) Analysis by Will Ross, BBC News, Abuja Once again the explosions were meant to cause as many casualties as possible. Like the recent Abuja blasts, the victims are of different religions and were mainly people out on the streets struggling to earn a living.
It has been almost two years since the last attack on Jos - when several churches were bombed. Those attacks were seen as an effort by Boko Haram to spark clashes between Christians and Muslims in the often volatile Middle Belt region of Nigeria.
For more than 10 years this area has been the scene of violent clashes that have often been portrayed as religious conflicts even though they are rooted in competition over land, power and resources. There is, however, a risk that these latest bombings will spark reprisal clashes and religious leaders have appealed for calm.
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/74991000/jpg/_74991503_464x2.jpg) Meanwhile critics have questioned the military's tendency to use conventional tactics to fight an enemy waging a guerrilla war - they argue that "soft power" strategies could also be used.
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/74994000/jpg/_74994383_a6be33ab-09fc-4649-a853-e52cfcce4b4c.jpg) More than 2,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed this year, according to Nema, human rights and monitoring groups.
Diplomats on Tuesday said Nigeria had asked a UN Security Council committee responsible for imposing sanctions against al-Qaeda-linked groups to nominate Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation.
Sporadic militant attacks in Cameroon, Chad and Niger have also heightened fears of a regional war.
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Source: BBC.co.uk