Regional and Western powers gathered in Nigeria today for talks on quelling the threat from Boko Haram as the UN warned of the militants' threat to African security and ties to the Islamic State group.
French President Francois Hollande told reporters after meeting his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja that "impressive" gains had been made against the Islamists by greater cooperation.
But he warned: "This terrorist group nevertheless remains a threat."
Buhari has invited leaders from Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, whose troops will make up a new regional force against Boko Haram, which has been pushed to northeast Nigeria's borders around Lake Chad.
The 8,500-member force, which has African Union backing and is based in Chad's capital, N'Djamena under a Nigerian general, was supposed to have deployed last July.
Plugging gaps and improving coordination between armies that are currently operating largely independently is seen as vital in the remote region where borders are notoriously porous.
The waters of Lake Chad form the border between Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, which have all been attacked by the militants in raids and suicide bombings.
Nigeria is seeking closer military cooperation to bring to an end nearly seven years of violence, which has left at least 20,000 dead and displaced more than 2.6 million people in the northeast.
The UN Security Council today said talks should help develop "a comprehensive strategy to address the governance, security, development, socio-economic and humanitarian dimensions of the crisis".
But it also expressed "deep concern" at Boko Haram's threat to security in West and Central Africa and "alarm at... linkages with the Islamic State", which operates in Syria, Iraq and Libya.
Boko Haram's shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau pledged allegiance to his IS counterpart Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi last year, although there has since been little evidence so far of direct support on the ground.
