The United States has supported the creation of a West African force of up to 10 000 troops to fight Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, a US defence official said on Wednesday.
The 54-nation African Union has approved the force and has asked the United Nations to endorse it urgently, after attacks by the group in northeastern Nigeria and neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon as it seeks to carve out an Islamic state.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for African Affairs Amanda J Dory said on a visit to Cameroon that Washington, one of five veto-holding members of the UN Security Council, would back a UN resolution.
“The US is providing diplomatic support in terms of engagement in the UN Security Council for the awaited resolution authorising the deployment of a Multinational Joint Task Force by the African Union against Boko Haram,” she told state radio.
READ THE FULL STORY: Counter-insurgency force: Washington backs UN resolution on Boko Haram regional force
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