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Abuja- Boko Haram hostages were held in atrocious conditions in the group’s Sambisa Forest stronghold, Nigeria’s military said on Thursday after nearly 500 women and girls were released this week.“Whoever they may be, the important thing is that Nigerians held captive under very severe and inhuman conditions have been freed by our gallant troops,” defence spokesperson Chris Olukolade said.

He said in Abuja the army would “comprehensively” clean out the forest, adding: “There is great hope for the recovery of more hostages of the terrorists.”

Some 200 girls and 93 women were freed from camps within the former colonial era game reserve on Tuesday while the army said on Thursday that about 160 more hostages had been rescued.

The rescues raised hopes for the liberation of 219 girls snatched from their school in the Borno state town of Chibok on April 14 last year, which caused global outrage.

Nigeria’s military released a series of photographs purporting to show some of the rescued women and children in an undisclosed location, huddled on the ground watched over by soldiers.

One very young child pictured appeared to be in a state of malnutrition.

Olukolade said air force jets had been bombarding the forest, which he described as Boko Haram’s “last bastion” in the northeast after being pushed out of captured towns.

He told a news conference that in the last few days, more than 13 camps had been captured. Equipment such as armoured personnel carriers, pick-up trucks and weapons were seized.

“Several” field commanders and foot soldiers were killed, he added, without specifying numbers, while one soldier was also killed and 10 wounded.
“The true identity of some of the rescued women and girls are yet to be ascertained,” said Olukolade.

“At the moment, what is uppermost and of priority is their movement to a conducive place where they’re now undergoing thorough profiling to verify their true identity, where they come from, how they found themselves in the forest, etc.

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

In Niger, authorities have urged people living on islands in Lake Chad to leave to avoid new attacks by Boko Haram, after an assault by the Islamists last weekend left at least 74 dead.

The weekend attack was the country’s heaviest loss since it joined a regional offensive against the militants, and saw authorities declare three days of mourning from Wednesday.

“The governor of Diffa invites people living on the islands in Lake Chad to rejoin the mainland,” a statement on Thursday said, citing security reasons.

“Measures will be taken to ensure their safety and resettlement,” the statement added.

Diffa is the provincial capital of south-eastern Niger, which borders north-eastern Nigeria, considered the jihadists’ stronghold.

Niger has several islands in Lake Chad, a vast body of water between it, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, the regular site of deadly Boko Haram raids.
Niger lost at least 46 soldiers and 28 civilians in the Boko Haram attack on the island of Karamga on Saturday.

Interior Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou said on Wednesday that “156 terrorists” were also killed in the assault on an army base on the island, and that 32 troops were missing.

He said Niger had since retaken control of Karamga.

Niger, along with Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria, has recently launched a joint offensive to end Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency, which has claimed 13,000 lives and caused about 1.5 million people to flee their homes.