Nigerian fighters have rescued the first of more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram more than two years ago, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.
The teenager, Amina Ali Nkeki, was reportedly found in the remote Sambisa Forest in Nigeria’s northeast, near the border with Cameroon.
She is pregnant and had been traumatized by her two years in captivity, according to The Associated Press, but is otherwise healthy.
{mosads}According to the BBC, she was found by vigilante fighters who have been recruited to fight Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist group considered the deadliest terrorist organization in the world.
The recovery of the 19 year old is likely to inspire hope for supporters of the other 218 Chibok girls, who were abducted from their school dormitory and have since captured international attention.
First lady Michelle Obama famously called on the world to “#BringBackOurGirls” shortly after their 2014 disappearance, but until Wednesday not a single one of the girls had been seen in person. Last month, CNN obtained a video appearing to show more than a dozen of the girls alive.
Since the girls’ disappearance more than two years ago, hundreds of other women, children and men have been kidnapped or slaughtered by Boko Haram. Earlier this year, the United Nations reported that the group has repeatedly forced children — often girls, and sometimes as young as 8 — to become suicide bombers.
But the fate of the missing girls has continued to captivate the globe.