Boko Haram captives: Hundreds freed from Nigerian militants' mountain hideout

The group includes many women and children who were abducted in March from an area close to Cameroon.

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The circumstances of how they were freed are disputed. The army says it had launched an unprecedented intelligence-led operation that had been weeks in the planning and taken the Islamist militants by surprise.

But a local group, the Borno South Youth Initiative, says it mediated the unconditional release, putting the number of those freed at 416.

Mass abductions by armed groups for ransom have become a common tactic in Nigeria in recent years - and though it is illegal to pay ransoms, it does happen.

Boko Haram infamously kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from the village of Chibok in 2014 - around 90 of whom remain missing.