Islamic State-affiliated jihadists in northeast Nigeria killed three troops in their first raid on a military base since the killing of an IS deputy chief in the region, security sources and a local resident told AFP Friday.
The northeast has been gripped by an Islamist insurgency since 2009, started by Boko Haram and joined by its offshoot rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
US and Nigerian forces last month killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, an IS second-in-command described as the "most active terrorist" in the world, at a remote village in the northeast of Africa's most populous country.
Intelligence sources expressed their concern to AFP shortly after Al-Minuki's death about a possible uptick in ISWAP attacks on military bases to avenge his death.
Late on Wednesday, fighters from ISWAP stormed a base in the town of Gajiganna, 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Borno state capital Maiduguri, and dislodged soldiers after an intense gun fight, local and intelligence sources said.
