A manned twin-engine surveillance plane, called the Beechcraft MC-12W Liberty, has begun flying missions over Nigeria to help track down 200 schoolgirls kidnapped last month, according to US media reports.
Officials said the missions were being launched from a US drone base in Niger, although there were no reports of drones being used to date.
First used in combat in 2009 in the Iraq war, the MC-12W surveillance and reconnaissance plane can monitor movement on the ground through real-time video, and intercept phone and satellite communications. Through the use of infra-red equipment, the turboprop aircraft can “see” through foliage and at night.
The aircraft, which can carry two pilots and two sensor operators, can fly for up to six or eight hours, keep a low altitude and slow down to maximise the ability to gather information.
The US airforce has 37 of an estimated global total of 42 MC-12W aircraft. Since their introduction in Iraq they have been used extensively in Afghanistan.
Video analysis
Meanwhile, US intelligence is analysing a video of the kidnapped girls in an effort to match the surroundings to a precise location. The girls could have been moved since the video was made, however.
The US last week sent a team of 16 military personnel to Nigeria to help find the girls. The team, made up from the FBI, intelligence personnel and the US military, is being co-ordinated by the US state department.
“The purpose of the Africom team is to co-ordinate with the Nigerian military and assess their needs and determine what assistance we can provide them to help in their search,” said Tom Davis, a colonel and the director of public affairs for Africom. “The team consists of experts in communications, logistics and intelligence.”
The team arrived in Nigeria last week after President Barack Obama’s offer of help was accepted by his Nigerian counterpart, Goodluck Jonathan. It is assessing what help the US can provide the Nigerian military. Mr Davis said no other US troops had been deployed or were involved in operations against the group Boko Haram, which is suspected of keeping the girls hostage.
The Chinese government has already said it would make available to the Nigerian security services any intelligence gleaned from its spy satellites and other sources.
In what could complicate US efforts to help Nigeria, there are legal restrictions on how much military aid the US can give to a country that has a record of human rights violations. According to CBS News, none of the intelligence collected by the manned aircraft has been shared yet with the Nigerians because of the country’s poor human rights record.
Human rights violations
Amnesty International says that over the past three years there are grave human rights violations in Nigeria committed by security forces in response to Boko Haram, including extra-judicial executions, enforced disappearances, indiscriminate torching of civilian housing, and arbitrary detention.
By law, the US is barred from training or providing military equipment to any foreign military units that have been implicated in “gross human rights abuses”. This Leahy law has been a significant obstacle over the years to any increased American military support and attempts to train Nigerian forces to counter Boko Haram.
Nevertheless, US Africa Command, which has its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, last week announced that for the first time personnel from United States Army Africa, a command of Africom, would go to the continent to train a Nigerian ranger battalion to deal with internal threats.
– (Guardian service)