Nigerian Government Overtakes 10 Boko Haram Camps in Sambisa Forest

The Nigerian government announced this week that it has reportedly cleared out 10 camps belonging to the Boko Haram terror group in the country's northeast region.

Nigerian officials said in a statement that it had successfully cleared out the terror group's "prominent" Dure camp, located in the Sambisa forest, a Boko Haram stronghold.

"The operation to clear the terrorists in Sambisa and other forests is continuing as troops in all fronts have been alerted to be on the lookout for fleeing terrorists," Nigeria's Director of Defense Information, Maj-.Gen. Chris Olukolade, said in a statement.

 "The Nigerian Air force is maintaining an active air surveillance to track the movement of terrorists for appropriate action."

Recently, the Nigerian government took responsibility for freeing over 300 women and girls from Boko Haram stronghold camps in the Sambisa forest.

The women were immediately sent to be cared for by aid teams following the raid, as many of them were pregnant and needed to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, such as AIDS.

One woman who survived the hostage situation, Zara Malam, told AFP that the Boko Haram militants did nothing to help her young son, who became malnourished after months of captivity.

"They (Boko Haram) did nothing for my son and the same for the other children [...] No food, no clothing, no water [...] Not a single thing," Malam recently told the AFP.

The New York Times reported this week that Boko Haram militants have also raped hundreds of women and girls in nearby Nigeria in recent weeks as an attempt to gain control over rural citizens and possibly recruit more Islamic extremists.