Five suspected members of Boko Haram were killed when bombs they were assembling exploded during a shootout with officers of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) at their bomb making facility in the north eastern town of Biu, 190km from Maiduguri, in northern Nigeria.
A military commander of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF), Colonel Victor Ebhaleme, in charge of security said the bombs were being assembled for attacks planned for the city of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital which has been the epicentre of the insurgency that has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009.
According to the military commander, the JTF officers were deployed to the region to stem the violence and they had surrounded the hideout.
The military officers engaged the sect members in a shootout.
Colonel Ebhalame said the insurgents had thrown a bomb at the soldiers when the other bombs inside the house went off, killing the five suspects and destroying the house.