More women and children freed in Nigeria from extremists

Scores more women and children have been rescued from Islamic extremists in the remote Sambisa Forest, Nigeria’s military said amid reports that some of the women fought their rescuers fiercely. The Nigerian military first reported rescuing almost 300 women and children in the Sambisa Forest on Tuesday after deploying ground troops into the forest more than a week ago. The army spokesman, Col. Sani Usman, told The Associated Press on Thursday that more than 100 additional girls and over 50 more women have also been rescued. He said in a statement that several lives were lost, including that of a soldier and a woman, during shootouts in nine separate extremist camps in the forest.

Additional numbers of persons are still being recovered from the forest. Until such comprehensive profiling is done, nobody can confirm whether they are among the Chibok girls or not.

defense spokesperson Chris Olukolade said in a press conference in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja

It remains unclear if some of the women had willingly joined Boko Haram, or are family members of fighters. It also remains unclear if any of the schoolgirls kidnapped from the northeastern town of Chibok a year ago were among those rescued. The plight of the schoolgirls, who have become known as “the Chibok girls,” aroused international outrage and a campaign for their release under the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. Their kidnapping brought Boko Haram to the world’s attention. Nigerian military and counter-insurgency spokesmen have said they have information indicating at least some of the Chibok girls still are being held in the Sambisa Forest.

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