The Nigerian military force has said it has liberated 200 girls and 93 women from Boko Haram militants. After some strategic military attempts, government troops have managed to brake-in Boko Haram camps in the Sambisa forest and rescue the girls and women on Tuesday afternoon. Three more camps all within Sambisa forest were also destroyed by government troops. Sambisa forest has been one of the strongholds of the militants in northeast Nigeria. Sambisa forest is around 100 km from Chibok.

Reports are saying that the 200 Chibok school girls taken hostage last year are not among the rescued girls on Tuesday. There is, however, speculation that Chibok girls could be among them. A military spokesperson has said the rescued girls and women are still being screened and it is not yet clearly known where they come from.

According to Amnesty International, the militants have abducted more than 2, 000 women and girls over the past 18 months.

Despite Boko Harams’ official alliances with ISIS, it is being reported that the government forces are gaining military victories over the militants recently. According to BBC’s Tomi Oladipo, government forces have occupied most of the territories which used to be under the control of Boko Haram. During Tuesday’s operation, Boko Harm militants are reported to have been killed, but the Nigerian government did not say how many. The government forces have also apprehended weapons at militant camps during the operation, as per military reports.