Nigerian Militants Claim Attack on 3 Shell Oil Facilities

Nigeria’s main militant group said Sunday it sabotaged three more oil facilities in the restive Niger Delta in response to a military offensive begun last in the region.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, said in a statement e-mailed to journalists that the group had destroyed two Royal Dutch Shell oil pipelines in Rivers state. It is the first attack by militants in the eastern delta since MEND launched its latest campaign of sabotage.

MEND said it also attacked a Shell offshore facility on Sunday. A Shell official has confirmed the attack on two Shell oil pipelines in Rivers state but denied that its offshore facility had also been targeted.

Sunday’s attacks came one day after militants blew up an oil pipeline in nearby Bayelsa state.

Voice of America