Upto 30 Nigerian soldiers have been killed in an attack on a military base in Zari, Borno state on Thursday.
The attack is believed to have been carried out by suspected Islamic State members.
“The battle lasted for about two hours and our colleagues fought them but things became bad before the fighter jets arrived. We lost about 30 of our soldiers and about 10 were wounded,” a military source, who did not want to be named, told Reuters.
The attack comes just before the presidential election in February, raising concerns about security in the country.
Muhummadu Buhari, Nigeria's current president and former general won his 2015 election pledging to defeat Islamic State fighters.
