BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — Witnesses say insurgents blew up a bridge in northern Nigeria, killing eight people, as soldiers stationed nearby fled for their lives.

Yobe state resident Malam Garba said soldiers guarding the bridge were outnumbered and outgunned by suspected Boko Haram militants. The bridge was the fifth blown up in the past three months.

Abbas Gava, a civilian security volunteer, said during the rainy season the road will now be impassable, further isolating areas under that have been under constant attack for months.

Boko Haram has killed thousands of people in five years of insurgency, including hundreds of children. Yobe is in a region that has been under emergency rule for more than a year, but Human Rights Watch says the insurgency continues to grow more violent and more far-reaching.

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