Boko Haram jihadists killed two soldiers and seriously wounded five militia members in separate attacks in the troubled northeast of the country, military and militia sources told AFP Sunday.
Gunmen from Boko Haram faction the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked a remote base in Buni Gari village, in Yobe state, 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the state capital Damaturu on Saturday, with six of the attackers killed.
"We lost two soldiers in the attack and six terrorists were also killed and their bodies recovered by soldiers," a military officer told AFP.
Air support and reinforcements from a military base in the nearby town of Buni Yadi "effectively routed" the jihadists, said the officer. He asked not to be named because he was not cleared to speak about the incident.
A member of the militia fighting beside the troops confirmed that the bodies of two soldiers and six jihadists had been recovered after the gun battle, which lasted less than an hour.
Buni Yadi district is a known ISWAP stronghold
Around the same time in Maiduguri, capital of neighbouring Borno state, a female suicide bomber seriously wounded five members of the local militia at a checkpoint.
Civilian militia members had stopped two female suicide bombers at Muna Garage security checkpoint, but one managed to detonate her suicide vest, militia leader Babakura Kolo said.
"The bomber and her accomplice were killed in the blast while five of our colleagues were injured," Kolo said.
"The explosives on the other bomber did not detonate and were defused by a bomb squad," he said.
The attack bore the hallmark of the Abubakar Shekau faction of Boko Haram, notorious for using suicide bombers to attack military and civilian targets.
Boko Haram has in recent months intensified attacks on military targets in Borno and Yobe states.
The two states, along with nearby Adamawa state, have born the brunt of nine years of jihadist violence that has claimed 27,000 lives and forced 1.8 million people to flee their homes.
Since July, AFP has reported 18 attacks on military bases in Borno and Yobe, and ISWAP has claimed responsibility for most of them.
