MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Chadian forces have retaken an important Nigerian town north of here that had been under the control of Boko Haram since October, according to a Chadian military spokesman, Nigerian news media reports and officials in neighboring Niger.
If confirmed, the recapturing of the town, Malam Fatori, would indicate a breakthrough in regional cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents — a joint effort long viewed warily by the Nigerian military. It would also represent an incursion of foreign forces on Nigerian soil.
Boko Haram’s black flag had flown over the town, just across the border from Niger and about 150 miles north of here in remote semidesert scrub, since October.
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But that task force has largely been a dead letter in recent months: Troops from neighboring countries were absent, for instance, from its would-be headquarters at Baga when that town sustained a bloody assault from Boko Haram this month.
Mr. Olukolade said Nigerian aviation had also been engaged in the fight for Malam Fatori.
