By Staff Writer (media@latinospost.com) | First Posted: May 03, 2015 06:36 PM EDT

Latest developments in Nigeria have revealed that another 234 women and children were rescued from Boko Haram militants recently.

The Nigeria Defense Headquarters announced the recent news via Twitter, stating, "FLASH: Another set of 234 women and children were rescued through the Kawuri and Konduga end of the #Sambisa Forest on Thursday."

BBC News wrote that the rescue operation happened on April 30, 2015 at the Sambisa forest, which is located in the northeast part of the country. The freed hostages were reportedly being screened to have their profiles created. The Nigerian military also stated that it destroyed 13 Boko Haram camps in the Sambisa forest. According to USA Today, the air raids were conducted by the army on the Sambisa Forest for several weeks before finally deploying ground troops to free the captives.

Earlier in the week, almost 300 women and children were freed by the Nigerian army. Although the army claims that the initially freed individuals were the ones captured by Boko Haram, a local senator alleged that they were actually residents of the place, based on the same report by BBC News.

On May 1, the Nigerian defense revealed photos of the freed women and children. Some of them looked physically healthy, although some children showed signs of severe malnutrition. USA Today also reported that some women allegedly fought the soldiers. Boko Haram reportedly used them as an armed human shield to protect its main battle force.

The military said in a report by The Guardian, "They have been evacuated to join others at the place of ongoing screening. The assault on the forest is continuing from various fronts and efforts are concentrated on rescuing hostages of civilians and destroying all terrorist camps and facilities in the forest."

USA Today reported that Muhammad Gavi, a spokesman for a group that defends against Boko Haram, said that some of the released women were pregnant. There was no confirmation yet whether any of the children freed were students who were previously kidnapped from the Chibok school one year ago.

Boko Haram is an Islamist insurgent group that started its operations in 2009 with the goal of creating an Islamic state.

President Goodluck Jonathan said on April 30 that the Sambisa Forest is the final stronghold of Boko Haram. Jonathan's presidency ends in May 2015 and he promised to hand over the country to his successor without any terrorist holdouts left, based on the same report by USA Today.

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