Nigerian militants announce that they sabotaged two oil pipelines

Nigerian militants announced on 28 July 2008 that they successfully sabotaged two oil pipelines in Nigeria's Rivers state. The two Niger Delta pipelines -- located in Kula and Rumuekpe -- are reportedly owned and operated by Royal Dutch Shell, and the company has announced that an investigation has been launched into the "incident" involving their pipelines. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks on the oil facilities. Although the attacks did not cause significant disruptions in oil supply, they did cause Shell to decrease production at one of the pipelines. The attacks come following MEND's statement on 23 July that it would destroy oil pipelines in the Niger Delta region to prove that it had not been paid off by oil companies to stop its campaign of violence.