Nigeria says it is making further gains against Boko Haram.<br /><br /> It comes after hundreds of women and children, kidnapped by the militants, were rescued.<br /><br /> The army is bearing down on what are believed to be Boko Haram’s final strongholds, in the Sambisa forest, in the northeast.<br /><br /> “The momentum of this operation will be sustained until that forest, that is Sambisa forest, is comprehensively cleared and all Nigerians held captive within it are rescued,” said Chris Olukolade, a Nigerian defence spokesman.<br /><br /> Boko Haram is said to have killed and kidnapped thousand of people since 2009. <br /><br /> It has pledged loyalty to ISIL, the militant group that has declared a “caliphate” to rule over Muslims, after seizing much of Syria and Iraq.
