Armed forces recover arms in Warri

Army and navy troops in the troubled Niger Delta have recovered a large quantity of weapons that were held by militant Ijaw youths, news reports said on Monday. "We recovered a large quantity of weapons, ammunition, some boats and communications equipment," AFP quoted an unnamed army officer of the 7th Amphibious Brigade as saying. The agency said the army denied local news reports that 10 civilians had been killed when troops stormed the Warri neighbourhoods of Miller Waterside and MacIver, inhabited mainly by Ijaws, the largest ethnic group in the Delta. The `Vanguard' newspaper quoted military sources as saying that the raid was carried out after a tip-off that Ijaw youths planned to cause mayhem after the expiry of a seven-day ultimatum they gave federal troops to withdraw from Odi, where Ijaw militants clashed with members of the security forces in recent weeks. Army information sources were unavailable for comment.