A suspected Boko Haram attack in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri killed more than 15 people and wounded around 68, an emergency agency official said on Monday. Boko Haram militants attacked a military base and two surrounding villages near Maiduguri in the biggest attack in in recent months. Maiduguri is the epicentre of the nine-year conflict with Boko Haram that has killed more than 20,000 people, according to Reuters. "Eighteen Boko Haram terrorists on foot attacked the military base while seven suicide bombers targeted residents of nearby Bale Shuwar and Alikaranti villages at 8:50 pm (1950 GMT)," said to AFP, the officer who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak about the incident. "The terrorists fired mortars at troops," the officer added. "So far we have recovered 18 dead bodies from the two villages," said Benlo Dambatto, an official from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). It is the most significant attack on the city since the government said lately that it was is in talks with the insurgents with the aim of securing a permanent ceasefire. The government, however, has not disclosed which elements of Boko Haram it is in discussions with, and neither was it clear which faction carried out Sunday’s attack.