ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack in Nigeria, the militant group said on Saturday in a statement posted on an affiliated Telegram account.
Seven Nigerian soldiers were killed, including a commanding officer and a lieutenant, in northern Nigeria’s Borno state, a military source and two residents said on Friday.
The attack happened near the border with Cameroon, al-Quds al-Arabi reported, citing AFP sources.
ISWAP (ISIS of West Africa Province) militants were riding several trucks equipped with automatic weapons and attacked a base in the city of Rann.
Residents of the city also flee after the eruption of heavy clashes in the area.
Rann is located 175 kilometers from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.
The Nigerian Army has not reacted to the report.
ISWAP split from Boko Haram five years ago and pledged allegiance to Islamic State and has been fighting against the Nigerian armed forces.
Borno state is at the center of the Islamist insurgency, which has spilled into neighboring Chad and Cameroon and has left about 300,000 people dead and millions dependent on aid, the United Nations says.
Nigeria’s army said in October it had killed the new ISWAP leader in a military operation, weeks after announcing the death of the group’s former head Abu Musab al-Barnawi.
Source: AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA)