Lagos , Nigeria ( CNN ) -- Dozens of people have been killed during two days of clashes between Islamist militants and Nigerian security forces in a northeastern town , an army commander said . Chief of Army Staff Azubuike Ihejirika said the latest violence in what is a simmering low-level insurgency in Africa 's most populous country left soldiers dead and wounded . The fighting began Thursday between Boko Haram militants and the military in the Yobe state town of Damaturu . `` There was a major encounter with the Boko Haram in Damaturu , '' Ihejirika said Friday . `` We lost three of our soldiers , seven were wounded . But we killed over 50 of their members . '' That contradicted hospital and morgue workers who said the vast majority of some 50 bodies brought in since Friday were civilians . An attack on Friday left at least a dozen dead in Maidugiri , in neighboring Borno state , officials and hospital workers said Saturday . Residents said pre-Christmas festivities have been subdued in the city -- largely Muslim with a Christian minority . It is n't clear whether Boko Haram attacked . Residents say the group was involved , but the military has not yet commented . `` The situation here is very scary -- the worst military confrontation yet , '' said one resident who requested anonymity . Boko Haram -- which translates from the local Hausa as `` Western education is outlawed -- wants to introduce a strict version of Muslim Sharia law across the 155-million person country . The population is roughly split between Muslims and Christians . After Boko Haram 's leader was killed in police custody in 2009 , its members began carrying out a campaign of sporadic violence which has been fueled by the military 's iron-fisted approach , experts say . In August , group carried out its first suicide bombing and attack outside the north of the country when a car bomb claimed 24 lives at the United Nations building in the capital , Abuja . Observers are also closely monitoring whether the group is forging links with other international terrorist organizations . People claiming to speak on behalf of the group say it draws inspiration from Afghanistan 's Taliban . Some experts say the group has a network that extends across Chad and Mali . Nigerian security forces have struggled to contain near-daily blasts in the group 's home base states , Yobe and Borno . While the violence has rarely spilled beyond the north , officials and diplomats say the group 's anti-government rhetoric has earned it substantial support from local residents living amid unemployment and poverty levels up to twice the national average . Activist Shehu Sani , president of Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria , said attempts to broker a cease-fire have been derailed , but he stressed the importance of dialogue . `` On the one hand , Boko Haram can not turn Nigeria into an Islamic state through force . On the other , the Nigerian forces can not crush the group through use of force , '' he told CNN .
Boko Haram means `` Western education is outlawed ' A Nigerian commander cited a `` major encounter '' with Boko Haram . The militant group has been fighting for years to establish an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria and the militants have killed thousands of people since 2009.