Two killed, 13 injured in militant attack in Nigeria

KANO, Nigeria — At least two civilians were killed and 13 others injured when militants attacked a military checkpoint in northeast Nigeria, a local government spokesman and residents said on Tuesday.

Fighters from the West African Province Daesh affiliated group in 14 trucks launched an attack on soldiers in Maina Hari village near Biu Town, 180 kilometres southwest of the Borno State capital, Maiduguri.

Civilians were caught in the crossfire during the fierce two-hour battle that followed. 

"Two persons died," Bulama Talba, a Borno government spokesman said in a statement, after visiting the Biu general hospital where casualties were being treated on Tuesday.

"Thirteen persons sustained various degrees of injuries as a result of stray bullets while trying to escape," Talba said.

However, local residents said three people from the same family were killed during the fighting when a rocket-propelled grenade hit their home nearby.

"Two RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] hit two houses, killing three people in one and badly damaging the other along with a vehicle," said Ahmad Babagana, a local resident who visited the scene. 

The extremist fighters were forced to withdraw, civilian militia fighter, Mustapha Karimbe said. There were no reports of combatant casualties on either side, he added.

In recent weeks, this extremist group, an off-shoot of Boko Haram, has intensified deadly attacks in the northeast, targeting soldiers but also mounting fake checkpoints and killing and abducting civilians.