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| US jets |
The United States has revealed it is
flying manned surveillance missions over Nigeria to try to find more than 200
schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram sect.
The US is also sharing commercial
satellite imagery with the Nigerian government, officials said.
It comes after militants released a
video of about 130 girls, saying they could be swapped for jailed fighters.
Boko Haram seized them from a school
in Borno State on April 14.
“We have shared commercial satellite
imagery with the Nigerians and are flying manned ISR (intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance) assets over Nigeria with...
the government’s
permission,” said a senior administration official, who declined to be named.
BBC says a team of about 30 US
experts – members of the FBI and defence and state departments – is in Nigeria
to help with the search.
The BBC reports the types of
aircraft deployed have not been revealed, but the US has sophisticated planes
that can listen into a wide range of mobile phone and telecommunications
traffic.
Other officials, quoted by Reuters,
said the US was also considering deploying unmanned “drone” aircraft to aid the
search.
US state department spokeswoman, Jen
Psaki, said earlier on Monday that intelligence experts were closely examining
the Boko Haram video for clues that might help locate the girls.
Pogu Bitrus, a leader in the town of
Chibok, from where the girls were seized, said vegetation in the video
resembled that in the nearby Sambisa forest reserve.
The video showed some 136 girls
wearing bulky hijabs. Militants said they had “converted” to Islam.
The girls’ families have said that
most of those seized are Christians.
Two girls on the video singled out
for questioning said they were Christians but had converted to Islam.
Source:thenationonlineng.net
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