ICC Note: Top United States (U.S.) government officials say that the U.S. has committed to the “long haul” in efforts to rescue the 219 girls from Chibok who remain missing after their April 2014 Boko Haram abduction. The effort faces a host of challenges. First, the two years passing since the horrifying event creates a difficult search window for intelligence operators to investigate, since the girls may have been dispersed throughout the region in that time span. Second, commentators fear Boko Haram may have already used some of the girls as suicide bombers, citing the dramatic uptick in kamkikaze attacks linked to teenage girls. However, now two years since the incident, hope rises again with fresh calls for the world to redouble its efforts in bringing the girls back, since a verified “proof-of-life” video surfaces clearly depicting 15 living Chibok girls, spurring the hope that perhaps Boko Haram is eager to negotiate for their release.

By Helene Cooper

4/21/16 MAROUA, Cameroon — The American and African forces sent to Cameroon to fight Boko Haram have, on several occasions, located clusters of the schoolgirls kidnapped by the militant group two years ago, United States officials say.

Rescue operations have not been carried out, the officials said, because of fears that any ensuing battle with Boko Haram fighters would put the captives at risk, or incite retaliation against hostages still being held in other areas.

American officials said a combination of local intelligence, intercepted communications and drone footage had been used to locate groups of the 276 girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in the Nigerian town of Chibok two years ago this month. Some of the girls have since been tracked to Nigeria’s sprawling Sambisa Forest.

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