Not less than eight soldiers were killed on Saturday after their patrol vehicle ran over a landmine allegedly planted by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters in Borno state.
The incident reportedly occurred in Kinuba village, about 25 kilometres from Gamboru, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon.
The soldiers were inspecting anti-jihadist militia members clearing thickets along a highway outside Gamboru when their vehicle struck the explosive.
A military officer in the region said all eight soldiers aboard the vehicle died in the explosion.
Ibrahim Liman, a member of the anti-jihadist militia assisting the military, also confirmed the death toll to AFP.
According to Liman, the explosive was planted on a dusty road and remotely detonated using a detonating cord.
He added that a militia member supervising the clearing operation sustained shrapnel injuries.
The attack occurred on the same day Waidi Shaibu, chief of army staff (COAS), visited Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, following an assault on a military base that killed 15 soldiers and five anti-jihadist militia members days earlier.
ISWAP, an affiliate of the Islamic State group, is active in the area, where terrorists frequently use roadside thickets as cover to ambush troops and motorists.
On October 8, the Nigerian Army said some soldiers were killed after terrorists launched a “coordinated multi-directional assault” in Kukawa, Borno state.
In August, one soldier was killed during an operation to repel terrorist attacks targeting a military barrack and two communities in Bodinga LGA of Sokoto state.