Nigerian Militant Group Threatens More Kidnappings in Niger Delta

Nigerian militants have threatened to carry out more kidnappings in the country’s oil-rich Niger Delta region, despite an ongoing military crackdown.

The region’s main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said Friday its fighters have been instructed to attack oil facilities and kidnap people.

The group also said it killed 10 soldiers and wounded at least 17 in an ambush of military gunboats preparing to raid a militant camp Thursday.

Friday’s warning came as Royal Dutch Shell said one of its pipelines in the Niger Delta has been damaged. There was no immediate word who carried out the attack.

In a separate incident, police say suspected members of a radical Muslim sect have shot and killed two people praying at a mosque in northeastern Nigeria.

One person was injured.

Nigerian authorities blame the sect, known as Boko Haram, for a string of attacks in recent weeks that have killed more than 20 people, including 13 police officers.

The group appears to have re-emerged after clashes with the police and military last year killed about 700 people.

Boko Haram means “Western education is a sin” in the Hausa language. The group wants strict Islamic law imposed across Nigeria.

Earlier this week, Nigerian security forces rescued 19 hostages in a series of raids in the Niger Delta.

Some information in this story was provided by AP and Reuters.