Rebels Threaten Nigeria's Oil Wells

A rebel group battling rival militias and government forces in Nigeria's oil-rich delta has threatened to target oil installations in an escalation of the conflict.

Production in Africa's biggest oil exporter has not been disrupted by the fighting which has turned much of the region into a war zone.

But that may change after one of the most powerful militias, the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, vowed this week to target wells and pipelines unless the government halted its offensive. Such attacks could increase global oil prices, since about half of Nigeria's 2.5m daily barrels comes from the Port Harcourt area where the militia operates.

"If this war on the Niger delta people is not stopped, oil installations will be attacked," a militia commander named Abiye told Reuters.

The militia, also known as the Egbesu Boys after the Ijaw god of war, has hundreds of fighters, a fleet of speedboats, heavy machine guns and intimate knowledge of the waterways and swamps. But since fighting flared two weeks ago it has been under pressure from attacks by the government's helicopter gunships.

Few doubt their ability to disrupt the oil industry: an uprising last year shut down 40% of Nigeria'sproduction.

No official announcement has been made but oil companies are rumoured to be considering moving all production offshore to escape the fighting.

The latest round of mayhem was partly blamed on rivalry between the Egbesu Boys and other militias, with names such as Icelanders, Greenlanders and KKK, which compete for oil wealth and their own ethnic group's ascendance.

About 500 people have been killed, according to Amnesty International, though authorities put the toll at a few dozen. Army troops and aircraft have reinforced the police but analysts question how effective they would be; the Egbesu Boys' leader, Alhaji Dokubo- Asari, reportedly has connections to senior political and military officials.

In a separate development, security forces in the north of Nigeria claimed to have killed 29 Islamist guerrillas who this week attacked police stations in bordering Cameroon.