UK Ready To Help Nigeria With Special Forces & Spy Planes

Whitehall source says government prepared to deploy special forces and spy planes if requested by Nigerian authorities Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan.

President Goodluck Jonathan has welcomed a US offer to send an American team to Nigeria to support.

Britain is prepared to send special forces and intelligence-gathering aircraft to Nigeria to help in the hunt for the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram militants, Whitehall officials have said.

Options for British support for the Nigerian forces struggling to find nearly 300 young girls were discussed by officials at a meeting of the government's emergency committee, Cobra.

The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence declined to say what help Britain might provide until the Nigerian authorities made an official request.

Details of the assistance that Nigeria requires are expected to be handed to Britain on Wednesday, though it is understood that unofficial talks between the two countries have already taken place.

Senior government officials said special forces – members of the Special Air Service (SAS), or its naval equivalent, the Special Boat Service (SBS) – would be deployed in Nigeria if asked to do so.

One possibility for British military involvement is that experienced UK special forces troopers would be sent out to advise Nigerian special forces.

UK special forces are normally deployed in rescue missions when British citizens or residents are being held captive. The last time they were deployed to Nigeria was in 2012 when the SBS joined Nigerian soldiers in an attempt to save the lives of Chris McManus, a construction worker, and his Italian colleague, Franco Lamolinara. They were killed by Islamist kidnappers moments after the rescue mission was launched.

British officials also said that the RAF could send Istar (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance) planes to search for the children and their abductors.

Sentinel aircraft played a key role during the military operations over Libya three years ago. The aircraft can intercept communications as well as monitor movements on the ground.

All of Britain's Reaper unmanned aircraft are operating in Afghanistan though the US drones in Niger were deployed there during the crisis in Mali last year.

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