A fighter of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) holds his heavy machine-gun at the militia's creek camp in the Niger Delta, 17 Sep 2008

Nigerian militants say they have attacked another pipeline in their so-called "oil war" in the southern Niger Delta.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta announced Saturday that its fighters destroyed an oil pipeline run by the local branch of Royal Dutch Shell in Rivers state late Friday.

The claim has not been independently verified.

In an e-mailed statement, the group said it will continue to "nibble" every day at the oil infrastructure in Nigeria until oil exports reach zero.

Royal Dutch Shell said Saturday that it has extended a "force majeure" (declaration of uncontrollable events) on crude oil shipments from one of its terminals because of a series of recent attacks on its facilities.  The "force majeure" allows the company to suspend its contractual obligations to buyers.

Fighters from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta have attacked oil facilities in southern Nigeria nearly every day for the past week, cutting the country's daily oil production by more than 100,000 barrels.

They declared war against the oil industry and military last week. The militants were responding to what they considered to be unprovoked attacks by the military.

The militants say they are fighting for the Delta's impoverished people to get more of the region's oil wealth.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.