Suspected ISWAP militants attacked a military base in the remote Malam-Fatori town of Borno state in northeastern Nigeria.

At least 20 Nigerian soldiers have reportedly been killed in an attack by suspected militants from the Islamic State-affiliated group in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Attackers stormed a military base in the remote town of Malam-Fatori in northeastern Borno state on Friday in an attack that lasted more than three hours, a surviving soldier said.

Boko Haram and ISWAP militants operate mainly in Borno, attacking security forces and civilians, killing and displacement Tens of thousands of people.

Reuters reported on Sunday, citing security sources and residents, that ISWAP members arrived on artillery trucks and attacked the 149th Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Malam-Fatori, killing a commander. Borders Niger.

“They were full of bullets,” one surviving soldier told Reuters by phone, adding that troops were caught off guard.

“We tried our best to repel the attack, and after more than three hours of gun battle, they overpowered us and killed our commander, a lieutenant colonel,” said the soldier, who declined to give his name because he was unnamed. Quan talks to the military. media.

He said 20 soldiers were killed and several wounded.

Residents who left the town said they had not seen some of the attackers in Malam Fatori until Saturday night.

Militants also burned buildings, forcing some residents to flee the town, said Malakaka Bukar, a member of a local militia recruited to help the army.

“They preached to some of the residents,” Bukar said.

ISWAP split from mainstream Boko Haram in 2016 and became the dominant armed faction in northeastern Nigeria.

Although weakened by years of military attacks and civil war, Boko Haram and ISWAP have stepped up attacks on Borno since the start of the year, killing dozens of farmers and fishermen in a series of attacks.

The 15-year conflict has killed nearly 40,000 people and forced about 2 million people from their homes in the northeast.

The violence spread to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroonleading to the creation of a regional force to combat armed groups.