The Nigerian military says it has rescued 178 people from the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in northern Borno state.
In a statement released on Sunday, it said that 101 of those freed were children and a further 67 were women.
The statement did not say if the girls abducted from a school in Chibok in April 2014 were among them.
The military also says that a Boko Haram commander was captured and several camps were cleared.
Boko Haram has killed some 5,500 civilians in Nigeria since 2014.
More
than 200 of the Chibok girls are still missing, more than a year after
they were kidnapped from their school in northern Nigeria. Many of those
seized are Christians.
Last October, the government said it had
secured an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of the girls taken
from Chibok, but Boko Haram subsequently denied this.
The abduction of the girls in Chibok sparked global outrage with many
joining a campaign online to free them using the hashtag
#BringBackOurGirls.
Several
nations including the US and China vowed to help find them and there
have been reported sightings of the girls, but none has been found to
date.
At least 2,000 women and girls abducted by Boko Haram since
the start of 2014, according to the human rights organisation Amnesty
International. Boko
Haram's insurgency, and the army campaign against it, have killed more
than 15,500 people since 2012. The violence has recently spread to
neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Boko Haram at a glance
Founded in 2002, initially focused on
opposing Western-style education - Boko Haram means "Western education
is forbidden" in the Hausa language
Launched military operations in 2009
Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, abducted hundreds, including at least 200 schoolgirls
Joined Islamic State, now calls itself "West African province"
Seized large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate
Regional force has retaken most territory this year
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