LONDON
The United Kingdom has sent a reconnaissance aircraft to Nigeria to support the international search for more than 200 school girls abducted by the Boko Haram terrorist group last month.
The Royal Air Force Sentinel left RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire on Sunday morning to join US aircraft in attempting to locate the girls kidnapped from a school dormitory in the northeast of Nigeria, according to a statement issued by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The surveillance jet, which has a suite of intelligence-gathering and surveillance equipment and crew of five on board, will operate from Accra in Ghana, the statement said.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: "The kidnap of these girls is a reprehensible act which has drawn international condemnation.
"I am pleased that Britain’s Armed Forces have been able to support the international search operation and provide the specialist skills which could help the Nigerians locate their missing children."
On April 14, Boko Haram militants stormed a school in Chibok, located on the fringes of the Sambisa Forest, and forced scores of schoolgirls onto trucks before driving away.
'Criminal activities'
A 17-minute video released last Monday purportedly showed Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau offering to exchange the kidnapped girls for Boko Haram militants held by Nigerian authorities.
However, some Nigerian officials have told African media that they believe the video is a fake.
Nigeria's secret police have recently said that Boko Haram may have become a franchise under which many gangsters hide their criminal activities.
At least four countries, including the U.S. and Britain, are currently assisting in search-and-rescue efforts.
More than 1,500 people have been killed this year alone in attacks blamed on Boko Haram insurgents, most of which have taken place in the northeastern Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language, first emerged in the early 2000s preaching against government misrule and corruption.
The group later became violent, however, after the death of its leader in 2009 while in police custody.
In the five years since, the sect has been blamed for numerous attacks – on places of worship and government institutions – and thousands of deaths.
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