The Nigerian military has launched a search and rescue operation for a battalion commander. He went missing after a security convoy he was leading was ambushed by gunmen in the state of Taraba.
The authorities say at least six soldiers, one anti-riot police officer and six gunmen were killed during clashes that followed the ambush on Tuesday.
The convoy came under gunfire as they travelled to the Takum area to contain a communal conflict between farmers and nomadic herders, according to the authorities.
The military commander leading the security forces then went missing during the clashes.
There are fears he might have been captured by the gunmen.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Nigerian military says a search for the missing officer has begun.
It’s not yet clear who carried out the attack. But armed gangs kidnapping people for ransom operate in the region.
The extremist group Islamic State West Africa Province had said it carried out a deadly bomb attack last month in Taraba - a state the militants had previously spared in their years of armed insurgency in northern Nigeria.
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