(AFP) – The United States is alone in helping Nigeria locate more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamists, Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday, despite help on the ground from Britain, France and Israel.
With 80 military personnel sent to neighboring Chad for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, the United States is the biggest foreign participant in the effort against the militant group Boko Haram.
Washington has also deployed surveillance drones, spy planes and about 30 civilian and military specialists to support Nigeria‘s security forces.
“Boko Haram, Nigeria, only the United States is there offering the assistance to help find those young women,” Kerry said during a dinner at the State Department.
“Other countries, not only aren’t they invited, but they did not even offer.”
Kerry spoke during a dinner at the State Department on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the US diplomatic corps.
However the United States is joined in Nigeria by Britain, France and Israel, which have sent their own experts. China, which saw 10 citizens likely abducted by Boko Haram in a region bordering Cameroon, has also proposed to help.
The United Nations earlier Thursday imposed sanctions on Boko Haram, blacklisting it as an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization.
