The White House Announced Wednesday that 80 U.S troops were deployed to Chad to assist in the search for the kidnapped Nigeria girls.
According to U.S. military officials, most of the troops are Air Force personnel. They will not be conducting ground searches, but instead will be flying drone aircraft and performing surveillance flights, reports The Washington Post.
Last month, Islamist militant group Boko Haram abducted over 300 hundred girls from a school in Nigeria. While some of the girls managed to escape, 276 remain captive. The crisis has caused global concern and the start of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
While it is unknown where the girls are, it is still speculated that they have been split up into groups and taken to different areas. Chad was the most accessible location for the deployment, given its location and the fact that its government has a good relationship with the United States.
Reports by CNN state that The White House also declared that the troops will remain in Chad until their help is no longer needed.