Troops recapture Baga from Boko Haram.

Nigerian forces backed by air strikes have
seized the northeastern 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.
Boko Haram, an armed group which wants
to form an Islamic state, had claimed a
January 3 attack that killed scores, possibly
hundreds, and left its fighters in control.
“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,
adding that although they have come close
to being defeated in the past, they have
bounced back deadlier than ever.
“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.
“This is a significant moment, a symbolic
victory,” she said. “But it is very difficult to
know precisely how successful the
operation was.”
Successes in pushing back Boko Haram are
welcome news for Nigeria’s President
Goodluck Jonathan as he faces an election
on March 28 that was delayed by six weeks
on the grounds that more time was needed
to fight the campaign.
The poll, however, also provides a strong
motive for the government and military to
talk up successes.


Punch.