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Ban Ki-moon has welcomed a plan for
a five-nation African force of 7,500 troops to fight Nigeria's Boko Haram
©Zacharias Abubeker (AFP)
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on
Saturday welcomed an African Union proposal to set up a regional five-nation
force of 7,500 troops to fight Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist militants.
"I welcome the decision of the
AU and regional countries to establish an MJTF (Multinational Joint Task Force)
against Boko Haram," he told reporters during an African Union summit
being held in the Ethiopian capital.
"They have committed unspeakable
brutality. Those terrorists should be addressed with a regional and
international cooperation," he said.
At least 13,000 people have been
killed and more than a million made forced from their homes by Boko Haram
violence since 2009.
The Boko Haram uprising has become a
regional crisis, with the four directly affected countries -- Cameroon, Chad,
Niger and Nigeria -- agreeing along with Benin to form a joint force.
The proposed force was backed by the
AU's Peace and Security Council on Friday, and the pan-African body is now
seeking UN Security Council approval plus a "Trust Fund" to pay for
it.
Officials at the AU summit said military experts
will discuss the force on February 5-7 in Cameroon's capital Yaounde.
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