President Obama has announced that he has sent 80 US military personnel to Chad to join the search for the 200 missing schoolgirls that were kidnapped on April 14.
In a letter to Congress, the President said the armed forces will ‘support the operation of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area.’
Half the forces will search while the other half will protect those carrying out the search work, and Obama says that they will remain in Chad until the girls are found.
As previously reported, the families of the girls had to call off their search efforts in the weeks following the kidnappings because they didn’t have police back-up.
Terrorist group Boko Haram is responsible for the kidnappings, with the intent to prevent women from being educated. The group has said it will release the girls in exchange for the release of Boko Haram members in prison.
Picture: Twitter
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.