Militant group warn of further attacks against foreign installations

On 15 April 2009 the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) militant group warned of additional attacks against foreign oil installations and personnel in Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta region. MEND stated that it will "join the fray" in the conflict between the Nigerian military's Joint Task Force (JTF) and local youths, who have recently carried out attacks to protest Royal Dutch Shell's operations in the region. MEND stressed that it cannot guarantee the safety of the company's personnel and equipment, and warned that "the entire region will become another theater of civil war" if the JTF attacks MEND’s camps; it also stated that the same action will be taken if the military takes action against the communities accused of carrying out the recent attacks against Shell. Meanwhile, two British Shell employees whom MEND has held for the past seven months have been moved to a secure location, reportedly in anticipation of possible violence.