Nigerian Army Rescues 234 More Women from Boko Haram Stronghold

Nigeria’s military rescued 234 more girls and women from a Boko Haram forest stronghold in the country’s northeast, an announcement on social media said Saturday.

It brings the number of females declared rescued this week to more than 677.

“FLASH: Another set of 234 women and children were rescued through the Kawuri and Konduga end of the #Sambisa Forest on Thursday,” said a message on the official Twitter account of the Nigerian Defence Headquarters posted early Saturday.

It comes as the army deployed ground troops following weeks of punishing air raids on the Sambisa Forest.

President Goodluck Jonathan, whose term ends this month, said Thursday that the forest is the last holdout of the Islamic militants and he pledged to “hand over a Nigeria completely free of terrorist strongholds.”

It is not known how many girls, women, boys and men Boko Haram has kidnapped during its nearly 6-year-old rebellion. Nigeria’s army has reported rescuing only females.

The Associated Press has reported that some women shot at their rescuers and were killed, with Boko Haram using them as an armed human shield for its main fighting force.

Boko Haram continues to attack in isolated places. The governor of a province in neighboring Niger has ordered residents of Lake Chad to evacuate by Monday when a government official said troops will flush the militants from hideouts.

As the insurgency spilled over Nigeria’s borders, a multinational force consisting of Nigeria and its neighbors deployed at the end of January and has retaken towns and villages where Boko Haram had declared an Islamic caliphate. Nigeria’s military, which had largely failed to curb the rebellion, has been reinvigorated by new weapons including helicopter gunships.

Nigeria’s military says it has flown in medical and intelligence teams to screen the rescued girls and women and find out their identities. Army spokesman Col. Sani Usman said most are traumatized.