Islamic State said on Saturday it killed 10 Nigerian soldiers in an attack on Thursday in the country’s northeastern Borno state, but a Nigerian Army spokesman said “no such incident was recorded.”

In a statement issued through its news agency Amaq, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on a village it referred to as Tdmari, near Maiduguri town. It said the attack happened two days ago.

The Nigerian Army spokesman insisted the “situation in the north east has been calm for some time now. The Nigerian Army is consolidating its efforts and successes are being achieved.”

Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA), which split from Islamist group Boko Haram in 2016, has carried out a number of attacks in northeast Nigeria in the last few months.

Borno is the state worst hit by Islamist insurgents whose attacks on Nigerian military bases in the last few months made security a key issue in a just concluded presidential election won by incumbent Muhammadu Buhari. (Reuters)