(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday called Nigerian leader Goodluck Jonathan to offer help in fighting the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which has been waging a violent campaign in Nigeria for several years.
The radical group on April 14 kidnapped close to 300 schoolgirls in the northeast Nigerian province of Borno and took another eight girls hostage this week. There are still 276 schoolgirls - mostly young teenagers - missing and the radical group is threatening to sell them as slaves or wives.
Hollande's office said that the French leader expressed "his solidarity faced with the brutality of Boko Haram in Nigeria, and in particular, the recent kidnapping of more than 200 young girls." Hollande also recalled his recent visit to Nigeria last February when "he affirmed that the fight against Boko Haram terrorism was also France's (fight)." The French leader told Jonathan that France was willing "to intensify cooperation with Nigeria in intelligence matters" and to associate countries in the region with this cooperation so that Boko Haram cannot carry out these terrorist actions.
France is sending a "specialised team" to Nigeria "in the coming hours" and will provide Nigerian security services with satellite images and other intelligence to help it fight Boko Haram, the French statement said.
Hollande also offered to organise an international security meeting, bringing together countries for the region.
Earlier, the United States also said that it was offering Nigeria assistance in looking for the kidnapped girls and that this assistance had been accepted.
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