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Boko Haram video allegedly shows missing Chibok Girls

The video shows a masked man in camouflage saying that some of the girls are still alive, but others were killed during Nigerian government airstrikes.
Captura de pantalla del video que supuestamente muestra a las niñas secuestradas en el norte de Nigeria.

A video released by Boko Haram purports to show some of the missing girls who were kidnapped by militants in northern Nigeria more than two years ago.

About 50 girls wearing Islamic dress are seen in the video. A masked militant in camouflage carrying a gun addresses the viewer, saying that while some of the girls are still alive, others were killed during government airstrikes on Boko Haram positions. The video ends with footage of the alleged aftermath of an airstrike by Nigerian military, showing bloodied bodies on the ground.

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"They should know that their children are still in their hands," said the man in the video, according to AFP.

On the night of April 2014, armed Boko Haram militants attacked the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok and abducted 276 students. 57 were able to escape right away. The fate of the others has been largely unknown until earlier this year in April, when Boko Haram released a video showing 15 of the kidnapped girls. In May, one missing Chibok girl — who had been abducted — was found alone by locals.

Related: The First Chibok Girl Kidnapped by Boko Haram Has Been 'Found' Alive

The man in the latest video claimed to be the successor to Abubakar Shekau, according to Al Jazeera. Earlier this month, the Islamic State appointed Abu Musab al-Barnawi as Shekau's successor.

The man also implored parents of the living girls to put pressure on the government to release Boko Haram fighters from prisons across Nigeria, Al Jazeera reported. He added that about 40 were married and several had been injured in airstrikes.

Nigeria's information minister Lai Mohammed released a statement assuring the public that negotiations regarding the missing Chibok girls are ongoing.

Related: As Video of Chibok Girls Gives New Hope, We Speak to Survivors of Boko Haram

The group has relied on abducting young people from local towns to swell their numbers, often training boys as fighters and suicide bombers, and using girls as sex slaves and Jihadi brides. Human Rights Watch has estimated that Boko Haram has kidnapped more than 10,000 boys from villages across the region over the last three years.

The abduction of the Chibok Girls sparked an international social media campaign, #BringBackOurGirls. One leading member of the Bring Back Our Girls movement told the BBC that she was "terrified" by what she saw in the video.

"Everyone should be disturbed by the conditions of the girls," Aisha Yesufu said.

Follow Tess Owen on Twitter: @misstessowen