Militants attack Shell oil facility in Nigeria

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Oct 2 (Reuters) Militants in speed boats attacked an oil pumping station operated by Royal Dutch Shell in a remote creek in southern Nigeria on Monday, an army spokesman said.

An industry source said the militants killed five soldiers who were guarding the Cawthorne Channel facility, located in Rivers State in the Niger Delta, but the army spokesman could not confirm the number of the dead.

''About 17 militants attacked our soldiers. The militants came in several boats. They suceeded in sinking two of our boats with soldiers inside,'' said spokesman Sagir Musa, adding that several injured soldiers had been brought to Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Musa did not know whether the attack had any impact on production, and a spokesman for Shell in Lagos said company officials were checking reports of an attack but had no details yet.

The Niger Delta has been hit by a wave of militant attacks this year that have shut down a sixth of Nigeria's production capacity, but the region had been relatively quiet in September after a spate of kidnappings of oil workers in August.

REUTERS SK KN2250