File Photo: Some of the rescued women with a Nigerian soldier

The new captives were rescued early Wednesday as the Nigerian troops destroyed seven more of the extremists’ camps, according to the army spokesman, Col Sani Usman.

Many militants were killed in “a fierce encounter” that cost the life of one soldier and wounded five, Usman said in a statement.

The military has reported saving about 700 children and women in recent days as soldiers supported by air raids have advanced further into the last hideouts of Nigeria’s home-grown Islamic extremists.

It is unclear if those rescued today included the schoolgirls kidnapped a year ago from a boarding school in Chibok town. Dozens escaped but 219 remain missing.

A 3-month-old multinational offensive has driven Boko Haram from towns where it had declared an Islamic caliphate. The militants have retreated into the vast Sambisa Forest, where they have planted land mines to impede attacks.

“Our troops are unrelenting in their determined efforts of vanquishing Boko Haram terrorists wherever they are,” Usman said.

On Saturday, the first group of 275 rescued — about 60 women and the rest children — arrived under military escort to the safety of a refugee camp in the eastern city of Yola.

The women related how the insurgents are running out of ammunition, fuel and food.