At Least 10 Killed in Nigerian oil delta clash
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At Least 10 Killed in Nigerian oil delta clash
Updated: 11:28 AM EST
At least 10 killed in Nigerian oil delta clash
LAGOS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - At least 10 women have been killed in renewed fighting between rival ethnic groups in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, local sources said on Monday. "The Itsekiris have killed 10 Ijaw women on their way to the market. They recovered three corpses, but seven are still missing," said local Ijaw leader, Saturday Eregbene.
A local rights group leader, Joel Bisina, said 12 people including two children were killed when their boat was attacked.
The conflict between Ijaws and Itsekiris is rooted in disputes over oil wealth, land and political power in the delta region which pumps most of the OPEC country's oil.
The violence subsided at the end of the year as the two sides began tentative peace talks which led to the lifting of a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Delta state capital Warri earlier this month.
The military, which has a 3,000-strong taskforce in the delta, deployed a helicopter patrol to prevent reprisal attacks.
A massive Ijaw uprising last March led to dozens of deaths and forced international oil companies to shut down 40 percent of the country's oil production.
The main oil producer in the area, Shell Petroleum Development Co, has said the conflict is being fuelled by international crime syndicates who are smuggling arms into the region in exchange for crude oil stolen from pipelines.
01/12/04 11:26 ET
At least 10 killed in Nigerian oil delta clash
LAGOS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - At least 10 women have been killed in renewed fighting between rival ethnic groups in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, local sources said on Monday. "The Itsekiris have killed 10 Ijaw women on their way to the market. They recovered three corpses, but seven are still missing," said local Ijaw leader, Saturday Eregbene.
A local rights group leader, Joel Bisina, said 12 people including two children were killed when their boat was attacked.
The conflict between Ijaws and Itsekiris is rooted in disputes over oil wealth, land and political power in the delta region which pumps most of the OPEC country's oil.
The violence subsided at the end of the year as the two sides began tentative peace talks which led to the lifting of a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Delta state capital Warri earlier this month.
The military, which has a 3,000-strong taskforce in the delta, deployed a helicopter patrol to prevent reprisal attacks.
A massive Ijaw uprising last March led to dozens of deaths and forced international oil companies to shut down 40 percent of the country's oil production.
The main oil producer in the area, Shell Petroleum Development Co, has said the conflict is being fuelled by international crime syndicates who are smuggling arms into the region in exchange for crude oil stolen from pipelines.
01/12/04 11:26 ET
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