A new video has emerged showing around fifty of the schoolgirls kidnapped from the Nigerian town of Chibok more than two years ago.
The video was released by the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, which abducted the girls, and features a masked militant holding a gun and standing in front of the group of young women.
In the video, the man conducts a staged interview with one of the students, who says many of the girls have been badly injured in military air strikes. He says some have been killed by the air strikes and calls on the government to release fighters in exchange for the girls to be set free.
The Nigerian government said it is in talks with the militants behind the video, but that it needs to be sure the officials are speaking to the right people, the BBC reported.
217 of the 276 girls taken from their school in April 2014 are still missing, The Guardian reported.
Many of the girls are thought to have been sexually abused and around 40 are said to have been forced into "marrying" their captors, according to the BBC.
One of the girls, who identified as Maida Yakubu, said on the video: “To our parents – please be patient," reported The Guardian.
"There is no kind of suffering we haven’t seen. Our sisters are injured, some of them have wounds on their heads and bodies. Tell the government to give them [Boko Haram] their people, so we can come home to you."
A father of one of the girls told the BBC he saw his daughter in the video. "I have watched the video several times. I saw her sitting down," said Samuel Yaga, father of schoolgirl Serah Samuel.
"The fact is we are overwhelmed with a feeling of depression. It's like being beaten and being stopped from crying. You helplessly watch your daughter but there is nothing you can do. It's a real heartache."
The end of the video shows dead bodies lying on the ground, said to be those killed by air strikes.
The Nigerian government said it is trying its best to work towards the girls' release, who are thought to be in northern Nigeria.
"We are being extremely careful because the situation has been compounded by the split in the leadership of Boko Haram," said Nigerian Information Minister Alhaji Mohammed.
"We are also being guided by the need to ensure the safety of the girls."
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