Troops from Chad, Niger retake northeastern Nigerian town from Boko Haram extremists

A Chadian soldier raises his automatic weapon to have his picture taken by another soldier in the Nigerian city of Damasak, Nigeria, Wednesday March 18, 2015. Damasak was flushed of Boko Haram militants last week, and is now controlled by a joint Chadian and Nigerien force. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) (The Associated Press)

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A Chadian soldiers walks in the city of Damasak, Nigeria, Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Damasak was flushed of Boko Haram militants last week, and is now controlled by a joint Chadian and Nigerien force. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) (The Associated Press)

Chadian soldiers ride on trucks and pickups in the city of Damasak, Nigeria, Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Damasak was flushed of Boko Haram militants last week, and is now controlled by a joint Chadian and Nigerien force. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) (The Associated Press)

DAMASAK, Nigeria – Soldiers from Niger and Chad have retaken a Nigerian town from Boko Haram, another victory in a regional campaign to wrest back control of swaths of Nigeria from the Islamic militants.

Col. Michel Ledru of Niger's army said Wednesday that Damasak was regained over the weekend. On Wednesday, an Associated Press photographer in the town said it was largely deserted, except for 2,000 troops from Niger and Chad and a handful of civilians.

Damasak, just a few miles (kilometers) from the border with Niger, had signs of its occupation by the militants. Walls were covered in their writings and the extremists' black and white flag still flew above some buildings. Bullet-ridden vehicles were abandoned in the streets.

Boko Haram has been fighting a six-year insurgency to create an Islamic state.