Nigeria's military knows where the more than 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram are, but has ruled out using force to rescue them, the state news agency quoted a senior military official as saying on Monday.
Seven weeks have passed since Boko Haram militants abducted more than 200 girls taking exams in a secondary school in the remote northeastern village of Chibok, and little is known of there whereabouts or what exactly the military is doing to get them out.
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"The good news for the parents of the girls is that we know where they are, but we cannot tell you," Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh told reporters. "But where they are held, can we go there with force? We can't kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back."
Most officials think any raid to rescue them would be fraught with danger and probably not worth the risk that the girls would be killed by their captors - an Islamist group that has shown ruthlessness in killing civilians.
Since the girls were captured, at least 470 civilians in various regions have been killed by Boko Haram, which says it is fighting to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria, according to a Reuters count.
'We can't kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back.'— Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh
The BBC reported on Monday that a deal was nearly reached that would have seen the girls swapped for Boko Haram prisoners — a demand the group had made public — but that it was called off at the last minute.
Over the weekend, Senate President David Mark, the country's No. 3 officials, ruled out doing a deal with Boko Haram.
"This government cannot negotiate with criminals and … will not exchange people for criminals. A criminal will be treated like a criminal," he was quoted by local media as saying.
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