Another 234 women and children have been rescued from Boko Haram militants in Nigeria, the military announced. It said the operation took place on Thursday in the vast Sambisa forest - a militant hideout - in the north-east of the country.
It was not immediately clear if any of more than 200 girls abducted from a school in Chibok in April 2014 were among those freed. About 450 women and girls were rescued earlier this week as the military entered the forest in northeast Nigeria looking for Boko Haram camps, CNN reported.
“Another set of 234 women and children were rescued through the Kawuri and Konduga end of the Sambisa Forest on Thursday,” the Nigerian military said in a tweet. It said the freed hostages were being screened to establish their identities.
The military earlier said it had destroyed 13 camps belonging to the insurgent group in the Sambisa forest, which surrounds a reserve in Borno.
The Nigerian military operation is continuing on various fronts and efforts are concentrated on the rescue of civilian hostages and the destruction of Boko Haram camps, an army spokesperson said.
Thousands have been killed in northern Nigeria since Boko Haram began its insurgency in 2009 to create its own state across the African country. More than 2,000 women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram since last year, according to Amnesty International.
In February, Nigeria’s military, backed by troops from neighboring countries, launched a major offensive against the group. It has recaptured much of the territory Boko Haram had taken in the previous year.
