Nigerian forces backed by air strikes seized the northeastern border town of Baga from Islamist group Boko Haram on Saturday, the military said, a significant victory in an offensive against an insurgency affecting four African states.
Retaking the town -- at Nigeria's border with Chad, Niger and Cameroon - was one of several in the past two weeks, and particularly important as Baga was the headquarters of a multinational force of troops from all four countries. "We have secured Baga. We are now in full control. There are only mopping up exercises left to do," Defence Spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade said by telephone. In a statement minutes earlier Olukolade had said that "a large number of terrorists had drowned in Lake Chad" as troops advanced on Baga.