THREE FRENCH EMPLOYEES KIDNAPPED FROM SHIP OFF NIGERIA

23.09.2010 [16:01]
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Baku, September 23 (AZERTAC). Pirates armed with Kalashnikov rifles clashed with Nigerian navy forces in a failed bid to take over an offshore oil platform, then kidnapped three French employees of a marine services company while retreating, a Nigerian official said Wednesday.

Navy Commodore David Nabaida said a Thai employee also may have been taken hostage by the pirates during the attack, which began early Wednesday morning.

The French-flagged vessel Bourbon Alexandre was working in an offshore oil field operated by Addax Petroleum, a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned oil producer Sinopec Group.

It was the latest act of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, especially along Nigeria`s 530-mile (850-kilometer) coast. Such pirate and militant attacks have been common near Nigeria`s Niger Delta, an oil-rich region of swamps, mangrove fields and creeks almost the size of South Carolina. However, it is highly unusual for attackers off Nigeria`s coast to try to mount a floating oil platform.

No claim of responsibility for the attack has been made, officials said.

THREE FRENCH EMPLOYEES KIDNAPPED FROM SHIP OFF NIGERIA

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