UN alarmed by Boko Haram ties to ISIS

The UN Security Council on Friday said it was alar-med by Boko Haram’s ties to the ISIS and threw its support behind a Niger-ian-led regional summit to confront the threat.

The 15-member council said in a statement that it welcomed President Muh-ammadu Buhari’s “crucial initiative” to hold the summit on Saturday, which was due to be attended by regional leaders and French President Francois Hollande.

The council statement was drafted by the United States as a show of support for Mr Buhari on the eve of the meeting.

The summit should help develop “a comprehensive strategy to address the governance, security, development, socio-economic and humanitarian dimensions of the crisis,” said a council statement.

The council expressed “alarm at Boko Haram’s linkages with the Islamic State” and voiced “deep concern that the activities of Boko Haram continue to undermine the peace and stability of the West and Central African region.”

Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015 and Nigerians have been reportedly fighting in lawless Libya, as well as having ties with Al Qaeda-linked groups in the wider Sahel.

US deputy secretary of state Antony Blinken and British foreign secretary Philip Hammond are among the senior foreign dignitaries expected in Abuja on Saturday.

As regional and Western leaders gathered for talks on the Islamist threat, French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday that Boko Haram remains a threat despite “impressive” military gains against it.

“The results (of the counter-insurgency) are impressive” and the rebels had been “diminished and forced to retreat”, he told a news conference in Abuja. But added, “This terrorist group nevertheless remains a threat.”

The council renewed its call for regional countries Cameroon, Chad and Niger in a multinational joint task force to “further enhance regional military cooperation and coordination” to root out Boko Haram.

It demanded that Boko Haram “immediately and unequivocally cease all violence and all abuses of human rights” and “release all those abducted” including the 219 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Nigeria in April 2014.

Boko Haram was named in the latest Global Terrorism Index as “the most deadly terrorist group in the world” in 2014. An estimated 20,000 people have been killed since 2009.