Northrup Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk
Northrup Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk. The huge drone that the Air Force sees as a replacement for the U-2 spy plane
Pentagon officials have stated that the U.S. military are conducting several surveillance flights over north-eastern Nigeria in an effort to find the school girls held by terrorist group Boko Haram.
One of the planes being used is a twin-engine U.S. spy plane used mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Air Force MC-12W Liberty, a military version of the Hawker Beechcraft Super King Air 350, with its crew of four has flown several Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions this week. In addition, a Northrup Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk has flown at least one mission over Nigeria.
Searches are reportedly centered on the Sambisa Forest, a Boko Haram stronghold near Nigeria's border with Cameroon.
When speaking of their efforts, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, the U.S. has “provided commercial satellite imagery and are flying manned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft over Nigeria with the government's permission." However U.S. officials have expressed caution that despite these efforts, quick results from should not be expected from the surveillance flights.
It has also been reported that the U.S. will be withholding some intelligence data form the Nigerian government. One reason for this is that Defense and State Departments are barred by U.S. law from sharing intelligence with foreign military accused of human rights abuses. Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren warned, "At this point, we are not sharing raw intelligence data." Furthermore, Africa specialists have warned of corruption in the Nigerian military and fears that Boko Haram agents and sympathisers may have penetrated the security services.
Warren also stated that there is "no intention to put Americans on the ground in Nigeria for the purpose of a rescue effort", despite several members of Congress pressing Obama’s administration to send Special Forces agents to find and rescue the girls.
Additionally, more complications could arise after the Nigerian government said they were open to negotiating with Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau on releasing the girls in exchange for prisoners held by the Nigerian government. Such a move would complicate the position of the U.S. government. This is due to their long standing policy of not negotiating with terrorists and the fact that late last year they declared Boko Haram a terrorist organisation.
A $7 million reward has been offered for any information leading to the location or capture of Shekau by the State Department's Rewards for Justice program.