At least 25 suspected Boko Haram militants were killed as they battled with Nigerian soldiers on Monday, following a ceasefire between the Nigerian government and Islamists in the lawless northern region.

An army officer, speaking anonymously, said the militants tried to enter the town of Damboa late on Sunday through Alagarno, a Boko Haram hideout, but that soldiers had fought them off.

"Our men gunned down 25 of the insurgents because they would have entered Damboa and unleashed more terror on the town that is just picking up from its ruins," the officer said.

Damboa, near the border with Cameroon, has been the site of fierce fighting between the militants and Nigerian forces for months. The insurgents sacked the town in July but were driven out by a military counter-offensive.

Ceasefire 'incomplete'

The Borno Elders Forum, made up of retired Nigerian civilian and military officials from the Borno state, said attacks in recent days indicated that not all Boko Haram fighters were aware of the deal.

"I don't think they would continue attacking innocent people if they are aware and they are in agreement that there is a ceasefire," said spokesman Bulama Mali Gubio.

The Borno Elders Forum, which last month warned that Boko Haram was preparing preparing to take over key sites in Borno, suggested the government had not negotiated with the entire group.

"If the federal government does not know who the real Boko Haram is, I think they should come here to find out from us," Gubio said.

"The real Boko Haram who are killing us, who are burning our towns and villages, are not the Boko Haram that a peace deal was reached with."

The government claimed a deal was reached after talks in Chad, which included provisions for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the Borno town of Chibok in April.

glb/sb (Reuters, AFP)