The Nigerian government confirmed Sunday 110 girls are missing after a Boko Haram attack in a northeastern town, after days of silence from officials.

The Information Ministry says the girls from the Government Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, are unaccounted for after suspected Boko Haram militants invaded their school on Monday.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said Sunday additional aircraft are being deployed, along with troops previously dispatched, to search for the missing girls.

Heavily armed fighters in trucks stormed the town of Dapchi late Monday, reportedly specifically asking for the girls’ school.

Authorities initially denied any girls had been kidnapped, suggesting instead they were hiding in the bush after the attack.

Boko Haram, which loosely translates as “Western education is forbidden,” pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2015 and has launched a number of attacks on schools.  The militia horrified the world when it abducted 276 girls from a boarding school in Chibok almost four years ago.
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