Abuja - A Nigerian militant group Wednesday claimed it had destroyed a Shell oil flow station in the oil-rich Niger Delta as a wave of attacks against oil installations entered its fourth day.

Jomo Gbomo, a spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said it had destroyed Shell's Orubiri flow station in Rivers State in a joint attack with the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF).

Gbomo said that all of the soldiers guarding the facility were killed.

A spokesman for the Nigerian military in the Delta, however, said that none of the navy personnel on duty at the facility was killed.

Nairobi/Abuja - A Nigerian militant group claimed Wednesday it had destroyed a Shell oil-flow station in the oil-rich Niger Delta as a wave of attacks against oil installations entered its fourth day.

Jomo Gbomo, a spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said it had destroyed Shell's Orubiri flow station in Rivers State in a joint attack with the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF).

Gbomo said that all of the soldiers guarding the facility were killed.

Nairobi/Abuja - A Nigerian militant group Monday said it had destroyed a major crude pipeline belonging to Shell as it continued with a wave of attacks in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Jomo Gbomo, a spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said that engineers and fighters used explosives to destroy a Shell pipeline in Rivers State.

The report could not immediately be verified.

MEND on Sunday declared an "oil war" after Nigerian military forces attacked militant positions with gunboats and helicopters.

Nairobi/Abuja  - Nigerian militants who have declared an "oil war" Monday said they attacked and destroyed an oil flow station complex owned by Shell in the restive Niger Delta province.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said Sunday it had begun operation "Hurricane Barbarossa" after Nigerian military forces attacked militant positions with gunboats and helicopters.

Abuja - The Nigerian military said it had countered an offensive by the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in the restive Niger Delta province Saturday.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the militant group attacked troops deployed to provide security for oil installations and expatriate workers.

"The militants fled when they realized that they had provoked a superior force," he said.

Nairobi/Abuja  - Nigeria is to create a new ministry to oversee the oil-rich Niger Delta, where militant groups have been attacking oil installations and kidnapping expatriate workers, Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has announced.

Secretary to Government of the Federation, Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, said the new ministry, which would have two ministers, would strengthen development in the region and engage youth being blamed for the unrest.