Officials say 63 girls and women abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria 2 weeks ago have escaped

Sources in northern Nigeria say more than 60 women and girls kidnapped by militant group Boko Haram two weeks ago have escaped.

A vigilante fighting Boko Haram, Abbas Gava, says the captives fled Friday after militants left their camp to attack a military barracks and police station in the town of Damboa.

A high-level security source in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, confirmed the escape and said about half the women have returned to their homes, while the others were in the custody of soldiers in the town of Gulak.Continue...


The women and girls were abducted when Boko Haram attacked the village of Kummabza in northern Borno state on June 18, killing more than 30 men and burning the village to the ground.
Boko Haram is still holding more than 200 teenage girls kidnapped in April from the village of Chibok.

That abduction made headlines worldwide and sparked intense criticism of the Nigerian government for failing to protect the school where the girls were abducted.

Several countries, including the United States, have provided intelligence and surveillance help as part of the Nigerian effort to rescue the girls.

Boko Haram has killed thousands of people during the past five years in attacks on schools, markets, places of worship and government facilities.

The group, whose name means “Western education is a sin,” is seeking to impose a strict form of Islamic law on northern Nigeria.