By Ogbodo Ndidi
BAUCHI, Nigeria
One soldier and one civilian were killed on Sunday during an attack by suspected Boko Haram fighters on a military checkpoint in Takanda-Giwa village along northern Nigeria's Bauchi – Jos road, a military source has said.
He added that another civilian was also injured in the attack.
"One of our colleagues died along with a civilian this evening when gunmen we suspect to be Boko Haram terrorists attacked our checkpoint on the highway," the source told The Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
He said panic prevailed in the aftermath of the attack, while motorists coming from Bauchi and Jos left their vehicles and ran away.
Nevertheless, a local said army fatalities from the attack amounted to five.
"Five soldiers were killed," Sani Adamu told AA, adding that the attackers had taken an army Toyota Hilux van and ran away from the checkpoint.
It was not, however, immediately clear whether any of the attackers was killed during the attack.
Bauchi was until recently free from insurgency, but the province came under repeated attacks in the past months. Some of the province's key towns witnessed suicide attacks.
Boko Haram has been fighting against the Nigerian army for several years now. The radical militant movement has also become a pain in the head for Nigeria's neighboring countries.
