A Nigerian army patrol vehicle hit a landmine planted by terrorists near the border with Cameroon, killing eight soldiers, defence sources told AFP on Sunday.
The attack happened in the northeastern state of Borno on Saturday, the same day the Nigerian army chief, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, was visiting the state capital, Maiduguri, over an attack on a base days earlier that killed 15 soldiers and five anti-terrorism militia members.
In the latest attack, troops were inspecting anti-terrorism militia members who were clearing thickets along the highway outside the town of Gamboru when their vehicle rolled over the mine and exploded, killing all eight on board, the sources said.
The sources blamed the attack on a splinter faction of Boko Harram terrorists.
Detonated remotely
“All eight soldiers in the vehicle were killed in the explosion,” which happened in Kinuba village, 25 kilometres from Gamboru, a military officer in the region said.
Ibrahim Liman, an anti-terrorism militia member assisting the military, gave the same toll.
“The explosive was planted on the dusty road and remotely detonated by a detonating cord,” Liman said.
A militia member supervising the thicket clearing was injured by shrapnel, Liman said.
