Nigerian extremist leader demands fighter release (re: missing schoolgirls)

[The Straight Story]

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - A Nigerian Islamic extremist leader says nearly 300 abducted schoolgirls will not be seen again until the government frees his detained fighters.

A new video from Nigeria's homegrown Boko Haram terrorist network received Monday purports to show some of the girls and young women chanting Quranic verses in Arabic. The barefoot girls look frightened and sad and sit huddled together wearing gray Muslim veils. Some Christians among them say they have converted to Islam.

It is the first video evidence of the girls and young women since more than 300 were kidnapped from a northeastern school in the pre-dawn hours of April 15 - four weeks ago.

"I swear to almighty Allah you will not see them again until you release our people that you have captured," leader Abubakar Shekau says as he cradles an assault rifle in the video.

http://www.wsfa.com/story/25490865/nigerian-extremist-leader-demands-fighter-release

[okaawhatever]

1. I wonder if these demands will make a military style raid necessary? I guess they could let the

prisoners go and then try to hunt them down later, but would more people die from that than a raid? One thing about BH is that they don't have the sophisticated weaponry that other groups have. They don't have night vision goggles or thermal imaging so a night raid would give the Nigerian army a big advantage. (if we loaned them the NVG and thermal imaging equip)