According to Caggins, the 80 U.S. military personnel will help expand drone searches of the region. About 40 of the troops make up the launch and recovering teams for the drone being deployed there and the other 40 make up the security force for the team. Caggins said this latest deployment will not involve ground searches by the troops.
The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity. The Predator also replaced the manned Liberty aircraft that was being used for search flights, but was pulled out for maintenance.
The government of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan came under intense criticism for an initial slow response to the kidnappings. Since then, the international community has pledged its assistance.
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