Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP
Boko Haram extremists captured a critical base on the Nigeria-Chad border and overpowered a multinational military force in the process. Troops from not only Nigeria, but Chad, Cameroon, and Niger lost control of the base at Baga town Saturday night. The soldiers were forced to flee when they ran out of ammunition after Boko Haram fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. A senior Nigerian official confirmed that Baga town is currently under Boko Haram’s control. “They came in the hundreds driving several Hilux patrol vehicles, trucks, and some were on motorcycles and immediately began to throw explosives and bombs,” said resident fisherman Audu Labbo. Thousands of people have been killed in the Boko Haram insurgency in the past five years, and 1.6 million people have been driven from their homes.