At least 15 people, including 10 Nigerian soldiers and five members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, were killed on Saturday when their convoy hit a landmine and came under gunfire in Borno state, northeastern Nigeria, two soldiers said.
The troops, from a battalion based in Gamboru, were patrolling a road between Gamboru Ngala and neighbouring Cameroon when a pickup truck set off a mine that was probably planted by Boko Haram insurgents, according to the sources.
Eight soldiers travelling in the pickup were killed instantly.
Gunmen then opened fire on a second vehicle, killing two more soldiers and five members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, which assists the military.
The sources asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media, says Reuters.
Six wounded soldiers were taken to Maimalari Military Hospital in Maiduguri for treatment, the sources said.
Military spokesperson Captain Mohammed Goni declined requests for comment.
The casualty figures could not be independently verified.
Borno is the centre of an insurgency led by Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, Islamic State West Africa Province.
Despite sustained military operations, both groups keep attacking troops and civilians with roadside bombs and ambushes in Nigeria’s northeast and around its borders.
Last week, suspected Boko Haram fighters killed at least 10 soldiers and wounded at least 20 others in a coordinated assault on an army base in Borno state.
