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Lagos – Nigeria’s military says it has rescued 80 children and women held captive by the Boko Haram extremist group in a remote northeastern village.

Army spokesperson Col Sani Kukasheka Usman says they were freed on Tuesday by troops who attacked a gathering of the Islamic fighters at Gangere village in Borno state.

He says 42 extremists were killed and troops released 42 children and 38 women.

The military has reported freeing as many as 10 000 Boko Haram captives this year but none of the 219 girls from Chibok school.

That mass abduction in April 2014 shocked people around the world and brought global attention to the seven-year Islamic insurgency that has spread across Nigeria’s borders.

The insurgency also has caused a massive humanitarian crisis among thousands of people forced from their homes. – AP