Eight Nigerian soldiers are reportedly missing after suspected Boko Haram militants ambushed an army convoy in the north-eastern state of Borno.

The New York-based Sahara Reporters website said three other soldiers were injured in the attack, which happened on the Damboa-Sabon Gari Road in Borno on 26 February.

The wounded soldiers have reportedly been moved to a medical facility in Biu town, southern Borno, for treatment.

The website quoted military sources as saying that the militants had escaped with an army gun truck.

The attack comes amid a major military operation to rescue hundreds of girls abducted by Boko Haram from a government boarding school in the neighbouring Yobe State on 19 February.