U.S. sends spy planes to search for abducted Nigerian girls

The United States has sent out piloted spy planes to help find the 276 Nigerian girls abducted by terrorists with Boko Haram.

Surveillance missions involving manned aircraft have already kicked off, CBS reported. Now the Pentagon is mulling whether or not to add unmanned drones to assist in the search.

The closest drone base the United States could use is in Niger, right next to Nigeria. But to help with the missing school girl search, the unarmed drones would have to travel hundreds of miles over the very portions of Nigeria that are occupied by Boko Haram, CBS reported.

So far, the piloted spy craft has collected some intelligence, but none has been shared with the Nigerian government, due to rules against aiding countries with significant human rights violations, CBS said.

This isn’t the only aid the United States has provided. Earlier, U.S. authorities agreed to provide 26 advisers from the State Department, from the Department of Defense and from the FBI to help with intelligence gathering.

Boko Haram released a video of dozens of the girls, wearing Islamic headdress and praying. The terrorist group said they had converted to Islam and suggested that the girls could be swapped in exchange for militant prisoners held by the Nigerian government.