Nigeria rescues 234 women and girls kidnapped by Boko Haram

The Nigerian army is battling against the group in its last stronghold

New Boko Haram propaganda named the group as Iswap - 'Islamic State's West Africa Province'

Nigerian soldiers have rescued 234 girls and women who had been captured by Boko Haram in a forest in the northeast of the country.

More than 677 women have now been rescued since the beginning of the week, suggesting the tide is turning in the war against the militant group.

The news was released by a tweet from the Nigerian Defence Headquarters, which said that the women and children were rescued from the Sambisa Forest on Thursday.

Military forces were deployed to the forest after weeks of air raids against militants in the area.

“The assault on the forest is continuing from various fronts and efforts are concentrated on rescuing hostages of civilians and destroying all terrorist camps and facilities in the forest,” army spokesman Major Gen Chris Olukoade said.

Sambisa Forest is the last holdout of Boko Haram and President Goodluck Jonathan promised to “hand over Nigeria completely free of terrorist strongholds” before he leaves office this month.

Some women shot at their rescuers and were killed in the fighting, as the terrorists attempted to use the women as human shields.

Despite efforts to suppress Boko Haram, the group continues to attack in isolated areas but government forces are having more success of late.

In a neighbouring province in Niger, the governor ordered residents to evacuate Lake Chad by Monday to allow soldiers to flush militants out from hideouts.

While an attack by soldiers on militants in Karamga island in Lake Chad last weekend killed 156 militants, 46 Niger military personnel and 28 civilians, according to the government.

Since the insurgency spread to neighbouring countries, a multinational force was assembled in January to deal with the militant group.

Towns and villages have now been retaken across the area Boko Haram declared an Islamic caliphate, as the Nigerian army has been equipped with new wepons and helicopter gunships.

It is currently unknown whether any of the rescued girls are those who were kidnapped from a boarding school in Chibok a year ago, which spawned the “Bring back our girls” campaign, supported by leaders across the world.

AP