Nigerian forces backed by air strikes have seized the north-eastern border town of Baga from Boko Haram, the military says. Retaking the town – at Nigeria’s border with Chad, Niger, and Cameroon – is 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,” Major-General Chris Olukolade, an Nigerian defence spokesperson, told Reuters news agency by telephone on Saturday.
In a statement minutes earlier Olukolade had said that “a large number of terrorists had drowned in Lake Chad” as troops advanced on Baga.
Al Jazeera could not independently confirm the government’s report.
The fighters appear to be on the run in many parts of Nigeria and regions near its borders, after being subjected to a major offensive on all sides, reported Reuters.
“Not even the strategy of mining over 1,500 spots with landmines on the routes leading to the town could save the terrorists from the aggressive move of advancing troops,” Olukolade had said in a statement earlier in the day.
Al Jazeera’s Yvonne Ndege, reporting from the Nigerian capital Abuja, said the military has confirmed the report.
She said: “This is a significant moment, a symbolic victory but it is very difficult to know precisely how successful the operation was.”
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