Fighting continues: Military says it will push further into Delta.
Nigeria will keep up offensive
Nigeria's army declared a militant leader wanted dead or alive today and pressed on with an offensive in the Niger Delta which Amnesty International said may have killed hundreds.
The military last week launched its biggest campaign for years in the country's oil heartland, bombarding militant camps near the town of Warri from the air and sea before sending in hundreds of troops to flush rebels out of communities.
The army says the offensive is targeting fighters loyal to Government Tompolo, leader of a faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), according to a Reuters report.
Oil production in the world's eighth biggest exporter has been largely unaffected by the week's unrest.
Camp 5, said to be a militant training camp, was bombedby helicopters, task force commander Sakin-Yaki Bello, told reporters.
"Tompolo is a criminal. I am telling you that the (task force) declared Tompolo wanted dead or alive," he said, holding up a framed photo of the militant leader.
The military says communities in the creeks of the Niger Delta are harbouring militants and it is trying to hunt them down.
Amnesty International said it had received reports suggesting hundreds of people, mainly civilians, may have been killed since the offensive began.
It said the highest death toll was thought to have been from air attacks on the Oporoza and Okerenkoko communities near Camp 5 last Friday.
It said hundreds of people had gathered at Oporoza, where Tompolo's home is located, for a festival.
"According to reports received by Amnesty International, hundreds of bystanders including women and children are believed to have been killed and injured by the JTF and by the armed groups while shooting at the JTF," it said in a statement.
The Nigerian army has denied using excessive force and has said that no innocent civilians have been killed or displaced.
Some foreign oil firms have evacuated non-essential personnel for fear that militant fighters will launch retaliatory attacks on the industry.
But industry sources and state-run Nigeria National Petroleum Company say production is continuing.
Mend promised to "pay back" the oil industry today, the latest in a series of public threats in recent weeks that have so far largely failed to materialise.
The heavy military presence has made independent access to remote communities in the creeks around Warri virtually impossible since clashes broke out last Wednesday, making it difficult to assess the numbers of displaced or wounded.
Amnesty said thousands of people had been forced to flee their communities, echoing reports from local rights groups.
"Many houses have been set on fire and destroyed by the military. People are still in hiding in the forest, with no access to medical care and food," the group said.
Amnesty estimated that 20,000 people living in the area were trapped by the military offensive, unable to use their usual mode of transport - travel by boat through the creeks - for fear of being targeted by the military or militants.
"The loss of lives, whether the militants or members of the armed forces, is sad. They are all Nigerians and so we will try and do what we can to prevent loss of lives," Minister of State for Petroleum Odein Ajumogobia told reporters yesterday.