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Nigerian soldiers killed in battle with Boko Haram 'More than 40' killed in battle with Boko Haram in Nigeria
(about 11 hours later)
Nine Nigerian soldiers and a civilian have been killed during an operation to free 10 people abducted by militant Islam group Boko Haram, the army says. More than 40 people have died during an attempt to free people during an ambush by militant Islam group Boko Haram, sources have told the BBC.
The abducted group of geologists and surveyors were rescued during the battle, it added. At least five members of an oil exploration team were killed, a spokesman for the University of Maiduguri said.
They were in a convoy that was ambushed as it was returning to north-eastern Maiduguri city on Tuesday. Soldiers and members of a vigilante group also died in the ambush.
At least 20,00 people have been killed and thousands more abducted since Boko Haram launched its insurgency in 2009. The high number of casualties will be a blow for the government, which insists the insurgency is all but defeated.
At least 20,000 people have been killed and thousands more abducted since Boko Haram launched its insurgency in 2009.
In the most notorious abduction case, it seized 276 girls from a boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok in 2014.In the most notorious abduction case, it seized 276 girls from a boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok in 2014.
It has since freed more than 100 of the girls, in exchange for the release of its fighters detained by Nigeria's security forces.It has since freed more than 100 of the girls, in exchange for the release of its fighters detained by Nigeria's security forces.
The latest abductions have renewed fears about the threat posed by Boko Haram, and has caused widespread shock, reports the BBC's Naziru Mikailu from the capital, Abuja. 'Death toll mounting'
The abducted geologists and surveyors worked at the University of Maiduguri, and were highly respected in academic and social circles, he added. Details of what happened on Tuesday remain unclear, with initial reports from the army suggesting the abducted geologists and surveyors, who worked at the University of Maiduguri, had been rescued.
The 10 were contracted by the state-run oil firm to work on oil exploration in the region when they were seized. On Tuesday, the army said the bodies of nine Nigerian soldiers and a civilian had been recovered.
But now the university has said at least five members of staff, including two academics and a driver, were killed when the heavily armed convoy made its way back to Maiduguri, in north-east Nigeria.
Several others remain missing.
"We got the impression our staff on the team were rescued because that was what the military spokesman said yesterday," Maiduguri University spokesman Dani Mamman said, quoted by AFP.
"But we were shocked when we were given four dead bodies. This means it wasn't a rescue. We still have other staff that are yet to be accounted for."
Sources told the BBC that more than 40 people, most of them soldiers and volunteers from a vigilante group, had been killed in total - although other sources suggest the number killed may rise further still.
"The death toll keeps mounting," a source told AFP, adding: "More bodies are coming in."