MEND Claims 29 Military Killed

Nigeria's main militant group claims it has killed 29 military personnel in three separate attacks across the country's restive southern oil region.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta says in an e-mail statement Saturday that the near-simultaneous battles came in the three main oil-producing states in the south.

The group reports six of its own fighters were killed in the clashes. They say they launched the assaults as reprisals for attacks they allege the military carried out on civilians.

Officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

(AP)