US Experts Join Hunt For Abducted Nigerian Schoolgirls,Obama Calls For International Mobiliation Against Boko Haram - BBC

A team of US experts has been sent to Nigeria to help find more than 200 schoolgirls abducted last month by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

US President Barack Obama said the team comprised personnel from military, law enforcement and other agencies. He said he hoped the kidnapping might galvanise the international community to take action against Boko Haram. Earlier, it emerged that eight more girls had been abducted in north-eastern Nigeria by suspected militants.

The latest kidnapping happened on Sunday night in the village of Warabe in Borno state. The girls taken were aged between 12 and 15. Growing international outrage led the US to offer the Nigerian government help and, on Tuesday, Mr Obama confirmed that the offer had been accepted. "We have already sent in a team to Nigeria, a combination of military, law enforcement, and other agencies who are going in, trying to identify where in fact these girls might be," he said.

Mr Obama described the abduction as "heartbreaking" and "outrageous" and denounced Boko Haram as "one of the worst regional terrorist organisations". But he added: "This may be the event that helps to mobilise the entire international community to finally do something against this horrendous organisation that's perpetrated such a terrible crime."