Boko Haram: Swap fighters for schoolgirls

New video offers possible glimpse of student abductees.

LAGOS, NIGERIA— Under the guns of their captors, dozens of barefoot girls sit huddled together wearing gray Muslim veils as they chant Quranic verses in Arabic. Some Christians among them say they have converted to Islam.

“I swear to almighty Allah, you will not see them again until you release our brothers that you have captured,” the leader of the Boko Haram terrorist network threatens, an assault rifle slung across his chest.

A video released by the group Monday offered the first public glimpse of what it claimed were some of the 276 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped a month ago. The girls’ plight has spurred a global movement to secure their freedom.

It is not known how many suspected Boko Haram members are detained by security forces. Hundreds were killed last month when their fighters stormed the military’s barracks in Maiduguri, the terror group’s birthplace and headquarters of a year-old state of emergency to put down the Islamic uprising.

In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said U.S. intelligence experts were

AU.S. team assisting the Nigeriangovernment in the search for girls abductedby terrorists consists ofsome30people drawn fromthe State andDefense departments, the White House said Monday.

Amongthem arefiveState Department officials, two strategic communications experts, a civil security expert and a regional medical supportofficer. Four FBI officials with expertise in safe recovery, negotiations and preventing future kidnappings are also part of the group.

ThePentagon said16Defense Department personnelwere on the team, including planners and adviserswhowere already in Nigeria and have been redirectedto assist the government. “combing over every detail” of the video and administration officials “have no reason to question its authenticity.”