Nigerian troops have killed 16 Boko Haram militants in country’s volatile northeast at Kangarwa in Borno state. An army spokesman said, troops successfully repelled the Boko Haram attack but 12 soldiers were injured during the encounter on Monday.

He said, a huge cache of arms and ammunitions was recovered from the militants.

The spokesman said, the military rescued five people held by the insurgents in the village of Dogon Chikun during an operation to clear the area of militants.

Boko Haram, which seeks to impose strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria, has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths and displacing more than 2.6 million people since 2009.