World Bulletin / News Desk

The Nigerian army has confirmed that seven soldiers and over 100 Boko Haram militants were killed in heavy fighting as troops repelled a Monday morning attack on the country's northeastern Goniri town in Yobe state.

The confirmation came a day after a senior military official told Anadolu Agency that nine soldiers and over 50 militants died in the incident which the source said also resulted in the arrest of many militants plus the seizure of a large arms cache.

Army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement on Wednesday that the attack had been aimed at the 120 Task Force Battalion in Goniri.

"During the encounter our gallant troops successfully repelled the attack and inflicted heavy casualties on the invading terrorists as all of them were killed. On the last count, over 100 terrorists' bodies were seen," according to the statement.

"Unfortunately, however, seven of our gallant soldiers paid the supreme price while defending our fatherland, while one officer and eight soldiers were wounded in action," it added.

The statement said the troops also recovered one general purpose machine gun, two rocket-propelled grenades, nine AK-47 rifles, belted rounds of 7.62 (NATO) ammunitions as well as various wires used for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) plus seven primed IEDs.

The army, meanwhile, said in a Tuesday statement that a top Boko Haram financier was arrested in Bama town of northeastern Borno state, with one million naira ($5,100). The statement claimed that dozens of militants were also killed in the raid on the group's hideout in the area.