Militants capture Nigerian town

Islamist militants allied with Daesh (ISIL) captured the town of Baga in northeastern Nigeria, near the border with Chad, on Dec. 26. The militants reportedly were armed with rifles taken from a raid on a Nigerian military base and had also attacked a naval base on the shore of Lake Chad.

The militants, who claimed to be members of the group Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP), allowed civilians in the town to leave without a struggle. ISWAP is a splinter group from Boko Haram, another Islamist group allied with Daesh in Nigeria.