Terrorists operating in Nigeria’s north west have overrun a military camp at Poll Wire, Birnin Gwari LGA of Kaduna State, killing 15 soldiers, 3 civilians.

The terrorists who were said to be travelling from Niger State to Zamfara State in large numbers attacked the camp Monday evening.

Arise TV News said the terrorists, armed with sophisticated weapons engaged the soldiers in a gun battle and overwhelmed them with their large number.

According to reports, the terrorists burnt two armoured tanks at the camp in the face-off on Sunday evening.

Two of the three civilians killed were members of a vigilante group while one was a traveller.

The corpses of the soldiers were left by the roadside until they were evacuated on Monday by a military detachment.

How the attack happened:

Security sources told Daily Trust that the terrorists were moving herds of cows when the soldiers, suspecting the cows had been rustled, engaged them.

“The soldiers thought it was a few bandits and engaged them.

“Yes, they killed some of the bandits but the terrorists overpowered them.

“The terrorists did not leave bodies of their gang members behind”, the security source said.

Abdul Ahmed, a resident of Birnin Gwari said a military detachment was sent to the area to evacuate the dead soldiers.

This is one of the many attacks in Kaduna in the last few weeks.

Spokesman of the Kaduna state police command, Mohammed Jalige, did not respond to telephone calls when contacted.