At least seven Nigerian soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram jihadist attack on a military base near the Niger border, the military said here.
The Islamists and the army were engaged in a fierce battle on Monday in Metele, a village in Nigeria's northeast Borno State, the military said in a statement posted on Twitter Wednesday.
Seven soldiers died and 16 were wounded "in action" the army said, but military and civilian militia sources put the death toll higher.
"We lost 18 men in the fight which lasted for seven hours," a military officer told AFP, speaking from the Borno state capital of Maiduguri.
"Our men fought hard and dealt heavy blows on the terrorists but they were overwhelmed by the enemy who overran the base," said the officer who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak on the incident.
A civilian militia assisting the military in fighting the jihadists said that on Tuesday 18 bodies of soldiers were brought to the garrison town of Monguno, 120 kilometres (70 miles) from the attacked base.
"The fighting was fierce. It started around 4:30 pm and continued till 11:30 pm," the militia man said.
Boko Haram suffered "heavy" casualties but managed to invade the base and take weapons, he said, adding that the jihadists destroyed "those they could not take away."
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