Nigerian troops rescue more Boko Haram captives from forest redoubt
None of the nearly 500 hostages freed this week appear to be the Chibok girls captured last April. The Nigerian Army is trying to root out Boko Haram from Sambisa Forest, a vast area of vegetation in the country's northeast.
None of the nearly 500 hostages freed this week appear to be the Chibok girls captured last April. The Nigerian Army is trying to root out Boko Haram from Sambisa Forest, a vast area of vegetation in the country's northeast.
The Nigerian Army rescued 160 women and children from Boko Haram on Thursday, and more could follow as troops trek further into Sambisa Forest, the Islamist militants' stronghold.
The news comes two days after the Army announced that almost 300 women and children had been rescued from the same location. So far,聽none of those rescued include the 200 Chibok girls kidnapped聽last April, sparking international opprobrium.聽
鈥淎dditional numbers of persons are still being recovered from the forest,鈥� defense spokesperson Chris Olukolade said in a press conference in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. 鈥淯ntil such comprehensive profiling is done, nobody can confirm whether they are among the Chibok girls or not.鈥�
The almost 500 hostages rescued this week are the result of a military offensive into Sambisa Forest that began Monday. A聽successful counterinsurgency campaign into the forest 鈥� long assumed to be the launchpad for Boko Haram attacks and described as its聽鈥渓ast bastion"聽鈥� may be a tipping point.聽
Since early February, Nigerian troops, alongside those of Chad, Niger, Benin, and Cameroon, have been slowly recapturing towns once overrun by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria. Abubakar Shekau, the group's purported leader, has been unusually quiet and was last seen in a video released in March. In it, he pledged allegiance聽to the self-described Islamic State聽and threatened to disrupt the Nigerian election that month. 聽
Capturing Sambisa
Sambisa is聽a dense area of forest that covers about 23,000 square miles聽and is聽notoriously difficult to navigate without a deep knowledge of the terrain.聽Formerly a game reserve during colonial times, the thorny forest connects the northeast states of Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, and Kano that Boko Haram has repeatedly terrorized.聽
It was an easy base for militants to hide in after staging raids. It is also thought to be where the group initially took the Chibok girls聽soon after the kidnapping.
鈥淭he attacks on Maiduguri, across in Nigeria, in Cameroon, a lot of it comes from Sambisa Forest,鈥� Yan St. Pierre, an analyst with Berlin-based security firm MOSECON,聽told Voice of America. "So if they鈥檙e not pushed out, all the activities, suicide bombers, militia training a lot of the stuff they鈥檝e been able to do so far will still go on.鈥�
The new operation is a major about-turn for the Nigerian Army since last May, when The New York Times reported聽the US government鈥檚 frustrations with Nigeria's approach to fighting Boko Haram.聽
Even though the multinational force has gained ground in recent weeks, Boko Haram is far from defeated. On Saturday, 46 soldiers from Niger and 28 civilians were killed on an island in Lake Chad, Niger鈥檚 Defense Ministry said. There were also reports of a suspected Boko Haram attack on 21 displaced civilians trying to return to their home in Yobe State.
Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's incoming president and聽a former military general, has vowed that he will stamp out Boko Haram. He takes office May 29.