Nigerian forces free 241 women, children in Boko Haram

The Nigerian military rescued 241 women and children in a raid on two camps controlled by the Boko Haram terrorist group, the CNN cited country's military as saying on Wednesday.

The Tuesday operation unfolded in the villages of Jangurori and Bulatori, the statement said.

The operations also netted the arrests of 43 militants belonging to the Islamist group, including a local leader, Bulama Modu, who the Nigerian military said was acting as the "emir" of the village of Bulakuri.

Army spokesman Sani Usman said it was not immediately clear whether all of those rescued had been kidnapped by the Islamists.

Troops also arrested a suspected militant in Wudla village who provided the names of terrorists who helped stage an attack in northern Cameroon this month, Usman said. They hailed from Dara Jamel, where the insurgents operate a bomb factory, he told Punch.

Boko Haram wants to impose a strict version of Sharia law across Nigeria, and in that effort, it has perpetrated bombings of marketplaces, churches, mosques and other public gathering spots.

Kidnappings are also one of the group's hallmarks, the most notorious coming last year when it abducted more than 200 girls from a school in the northeastern Nigerian city of Chibok.

Those girls' fates remain a mystery.