Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Two car bombs hit Nigerian oil compounds

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) - Two car bombs exploded at oil company compounds in Nigeria's oil capital Port Harcourt on Monday damaging cars but causing no casualties, authorities said.
The blasts occurred in the car park of a residential compound of Royal Dutch Shell, while the other was on a perimeter wall of a compound of Italian oil company Agip.
There was no immediate impact on oil production.
"The other two bombings were directed at Shell ... and Agip," the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in an email to the media adding that a third planned bombing was canceled to avoid high civilian casualties.
The group said the bombs were a "cocktail of military and commercial explosives" and triggered by cellphone.
The group had earlier warned that it was about to detonate three car bombs in strategic locations across the Niger Delta. It reiterated its warning to oil workers to stay away from the delta and threatened more attacks.
"Attacks against oil industry targets will increase, be carried out without warning and with extreme ruthlessness," the email said. Continued...
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

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