Four Biafran rebels are killed by the Nigerian soldiers.

In a skirmish in the southeast, the Nigerian military claims to have killed four members of a Biafran separatist group.

It said that one of its patrols was attacked and that it returned fire, killing part of the gang and causing the rest to flee.

The assertion has not been independently verified.

The Nigerian military has been accused by human rights groups of employing disproportionate force against separatists in an area that battled for independence in vain in the late 1960s.

The trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the most renowned Biafran separatist leader, is set to resume on Tuesday.

There are fears that the assassination of members of the separatist group will inflame Mr. Kanu's supporters in the southeast.