Militants sabotaged major crude pipelines in Nigeria’s chaotic oil region, trimming crude production as the military widened an operation to uproot the fighters.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it had destroyed pipes run by Chevron Corp before dawn on Monday in Delta State, where the military is carrying out its largest operation in years against militants.
Chevron confirmed an incident on its pipeline network and said it caused them to shut down operations totaling 100,000 barrels per day.
Military spokesman Colonel Rabe Abubakar also confirmed the attack on the Chevron infrastructure, while saying armed forces had invaded a militant camp in nearby Rivers State.
But he said the fighting was minimal and didn’t think the military would send helicopter gunships and fighter jets as they had done last week.
The militants also said they had released three Filipino hostages seized this month.
The military launched its operation in Rivers State nearly two weeks ago, after rare clashes between armed forces and the militants in the Scotland-sized region of swamps, rivers and creeks. The militants said they have killed at least 12 soldiers and the military said it is searching for 11 troops missing in the area.
Amnesty International said hundreds of people may have been killed, including innocent bystanders to the violence. But the military has classed the entire Niger Delta region as a military zone, severely curtailing access for reporters and aid workers. A true death toll is not known.
The militants said they are fighting to force the federal government to send more of the oil-industry funds it controls to the Niger Delta, which remains deeply impoverished despite five decades of oil production. But criminality and militancy are closely linked, with many leaders of the militant groups growing rich by stealing oil from pipelines and selling it overseas.
An upsurge in violence that began in early 2006 has seen hundreds of foreign workers kidnapped and dozens of attacks on crucial oil infrastructure. Hostages are normally released unharmed although several have died during botched snatch or rescue attempts.
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