DHAKA: Mystery surrounds the fate of more than 100 teenage girls who were abducted from a school in the remote north-east of Nigeria.

The military says all but eight of the 129 girls have escaped, but parents of the girls say many are still missing.

It is thought Islamist militant group Boko Haram took the girls to forested areas near the Cameroonian border.

The group is waging a bloody campaign for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

Also on Wednesday, 18 people were killed in an attack in the Gwoza district of north-eastern Nigeria, local officials told media, reports the BBC.

BDST: 1933 HRS, APR 17, 2014