REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MAIDUGURI - The leader of the Nigerian rebel group Boko Haram has offered to release more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by his fighters last month in exchange for its members being held in detention, according to a video posted on YouTube on Monday.
The search for the girls intensified as a senior US administration official said the United States deployed manned surveillance aircraft over Nigeria and was sharing satellite imagery with the Nigerian government.
About 100 girls wearing full veils and praying are shown in an undisclosed location in a part of the 17-minute video in which Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau speaks. Boko Haram militants, who are fighting for an Islamist state, stormed a secondary school in the northeastern village of Chibok on April 14 and seized 276 girls who were taking exams. Some have managed to escape, but about 200 remain missing.
A government official said "all options" were being considered to secure the girls' release. Nigeria has deployed two army divisions to hunt for the girls, while several countries, including the United States, Britain, Israel and France, have offered help or sent experts. Nigerian authorities met with some of the experts on Monday and plan further meetings with the West African country's defense and security agencies, a government statement said.
"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," the senior US official said.
In a 1.25-minute segment of the YouTube video, scores of girls in black and grey veils sit on the ground, chant and sing. Shekau, wearing military fatigues and holding an AK-47, then addresses the camera. He appears confident and at one point even laughs.
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