iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — U.S. officials say they believe reports that more than 60 girls, who were kidnapped by the Nigerian terror group Boko Haram have, escaped are accurate. The girls were kidnapped last month from the Northern Nigeria area of Borno State.
A State Department official said on Monday the U.S. embassy in Abuja is working with Nigerian officials to provide counseling and medical services to the girls.
“We wish these women and girls the best as they are reunited with their families,” said the official.
A member of the local community confirmed to ABC News that 63 women and girls abducted from the area a few weeks ago had escaped. The young women said they fled after their captors left them alone to go and fight the Nigerian military.
These women are not part of the more than 200 schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in April, which sparked an outrage and the global #BringBackOurGirls campaign. All of those females remain missing.
The U.S., along with other western governments, continues to work with Nigerian officials to try and find the girls, including deploying both manned and unmanned drones over the area they are believed to have been taken.
“The search for the kidnapped school girls from Chibok is ongoing,” said the official, who reiterated that the Nigerians remain in the lead for the search. But the official added that the U.S. continues to work with the Nigerian government to evaluate what additional resources America might be able to provide to support the search efforts.
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