Nigerian militants warn of fresh attacks
The main militant group in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta has said it will launch new attacks, despite a recent military crackdown.
The warning by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta came as Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian subsidiary announced one of its major pipelines in the region suffered enough damage to affect crude oil shipments.
The militant group, known by the acronym Mend, said it had ambushed 14 army gunboats that were heading toward one of their camps on Thursday.
Mend said it had killed 10 soldiers and injured 17 others in the fight, but a military spokesman denied the group's claims.
"They have lost the struggle and they are using collaborators in the media to regain their initiatives," Lt Col Timothy Antigha said of Mend.
However, an official at a hospital in Delta state said doctors had treated at least nine soldiers wounded in an attack by militants in the delta.
On Wednesday night, a military operation freed 19 hostages in the oil region held by Mend - including seven expatriate workers. Mend promised to launch new assaults despite losing the hostages.
"We will soon commence with an all-out attack on oil installations across the Niger Delta," Mend said.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who comes from the Niger Delta, praised the soldiers for the rescue on his official profile on Facebook.
"For the Niger Delta, I believe the worst is over," Mr Jonathan said.
Mr Jonathan's hopeful message came as Shell declared "force majeure" on its Bonny Light crude oil shipments. The term is used when it is impossible for an oil company to cover the promised supply from the field.
Shell said the damage occurred on its Trans Niger pipeline, a major conduit for Shell through the Niger Delta.
The company said it had no information about what caused the damage, but said an investigation was ongoing.
Pipelines and rigs operated by Shell, the first oil company to come to the Niger Delta more than 50 years ago, remain lucrative targets for militants and criminals wanting to steal crude in the region.
Most pipelines run through communities long suspicious of foreign oil firms, as they say exploration only brought endemic poverty and years of pollution to the region.
Nigeria is one of the top crude oil suppliers to the US.
Nigeria, an OPEC-member nation, has seen its oil production rise to 2.2 million barrels a day since a government-sponsored amnesty programme last year offered cash payouts and the promise of job training to former fighters and commanders. Despite the amnesty, a contingent of Mend fighters continue a campaign against the government.
Meanwhile, a South African court refused to grant bail to Nigerian terror suspect Henry Okah.
Okah, an alleged gunrunner long thought to be an organiser of Mend-branded attacks, faces terrorism charges stemming from an October 1 bombing in Abuja, Nigeria, that killed at least 12 people during an independence celebration.
Okah insists he is innocent. He has lived in South Africa since last year and was arrested in Johannesburg a day after the bombings.
The South African magistrate said after listening to tapes of Okah's testimony he determined Okah had lied to the court, and he is indeed a leader of Mend and involved in military activity within the Niger Delta.
