U.S. military officials are expected to arrive in Nigeria on Friday to help in the search for hundreds of girls kidnapped by Islamist militants, the Pentagon said. The seven will join a team already advising Nigeria on the search, said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, who serves as Pentagon press secretary.
About 60 U.S. inter agency members have been on the ground since before the kidnappings as part of counter-terrorism efforts with Nigeria, a senior U.S. administration official told us they have been holding meetings, getting resources into the country and making assessments with local authorities.
"Our team is hitting the ground in Nigeria now and they are going to be working ... with President Goodluck Jonathan's government to do everything that we possibly can to return these girls," Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday.
Their tasks include establishing a coordination cell to provide intelligence, investigations and hostage negotiation expertise.
There are no plans to send American combat troops, according to our source
The task of recovering the girls appeared to grow more complicated with news that U.S. intelligence shows the 276 girls have been split up.
Kirby said they believe the girls "have been broken up into smaller groups," but declined to detail how officials came to the conclusion. His sentiment has been echoed by others.
"The search must be in Niger, Cameroon and Chad, to see if we can find information," said Gordon Brown, a former UK Prime Minister and the U.N.'s special envoy for global education.
