The clash occurred Monday at a base in northeast Nigerian Borno state, where the so-called Forward Operations Center (FOC) is located.

According to eyewitnesses, the troops were surprised by a large number of armed Islamists who caused the six casualtiess, an undetermined number of wounded, and several missing.

They also set fire to the facilities and several vehicles on the site.

Islamist factions such as Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State in West Africa, are active in eastern Nigeria, and insecurity has spread to central, northern, and northwestern areas, raising alarms about the possible expansion of these terrorist and criminal networks.

According to United Nations data since 2009, the activities of the radical formation Boko Haram and its offshoot of the Islamic State of West Africa Province, later incorporated in 2016 in Nigeria and neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, killed more than 35,000 and about two million have been displaced.

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