The United States said it is flying “manned” missions over Nigeria in search of over 200 abducted schoolgirls, after the Lagos government dismissed a prisoner-swap offer from the Boko Haram kidnappers.
“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,” a senior US administration official said Monday.
The official declined to be named, and it was not immediately clear what kind of aircraft were being deployed, nor where they were based.
Boko Haram’s leader said in a new video on Monday that the abducted schoolgirls would only be released if the government freed militant fighters from custody.
Abubakar Shekau made the claim in a 27-minute video, which apparently showed about 130 of the girls who were kidnapped from their school in the remote northeastern town of Chibok nearly a month ago.
The militant leader said the girls in the video had converted to Islam and all were shown in Muslim dress, reciting the first chapter of the Holy Quran and praying at an undisclosed location.
