US deploys planes in search for abducted Chibok girls

The US has revealed it is flying manned surveillance missions
over Nigeria to try to find more than 200 schoolgirls
kidnapped by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
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 the northern Borno
state on 14 April.
“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 administration official, who
declined to be named, said.
A team of about 30 US experts – members of the FBI and
defence and state departments – is in Nigeria to help with the
sear
The BBC’s Rajini Vaidyanathan in Washington says the types
of aircraft deployed haven’t been revealed, but the US does
have 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 were singled out for questioning and
said they were Christians but had converted to Islam.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the girls could be
exchanged for “our brethren in your prison”.