West, African countries agree to eliminate Boko Haram

London, June 13: Western powers and African countries on Thursday agreed on a series of multinational missions to eliminate militant group

and free the abducted Nigerian school girls, media reported on Friday.

The agreements were reached at a meeting on Nigeria's security situation, hosted in London Thursday, by British Foreign Secretary William Hague and was attended by foreign ministers of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Representatives of Benin, the European Union (EU), France, Canada, the US, the UN and the African Union also attended, Xinhua reported.

"We reaffirmed our strong and united commitment to fighting terrorism and insecurity in Nigeria and the region. We condemn in the strongest terms the series of atrocities perpetrated by Boko Haram and other groups," the ministers said in a communique.

Ministers: Condemn atrocities carried out by Boko Haram

According to the communique, Nigeria, Chad, Benin, Niger and Cameroon have confirmed that they will launch a Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit to bring together all available information and tighten the grip around the Boko Haram group, while Britain, the US and France will provide the necessary technical expertise.

It added that Nigeria and its neighbours were committed to strengthening their cooperation among regional countries to bring home the abducted school girls and defeat Boko Haram.

Boko Haram, a violent militant group seeking enforcement of the Islamic Sharia law in the constitution of Nigeria, has been behind deadly attacks in the country since 2009. The sect recently claimed responsibility for the abduction of more than 200 school girls in northeastern state of Borno in April. In another strike last week, they kidnapped 20 more women.

"The abduction of the schoolgirls was a terrible reminder of the toll taken by Boko Haram on women across the world," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

IANS