Funding falls short for task force to fight Boko Haram

Funding for a multinational force to combat Boko Haram's deadly Islamist insurgency in West and Central Africa remains well short of its target, an African Union official said on Tuesday.

So far donors, including Nigeria, Switzerland and France, have pledged about $250 million to fund the 8,700-strong regional force, the African Union's Peace and Security Council said after a meeting in Addis Ababa to discuss funding.

The talks followed the militia's latest attack, which killed at least 65 people in northeast Nigeria on Saturday.

The $250 million includes both previous pledges and those made during Monday's conference, said Orlando Bama, communications officer for the African Union's Peace and Security Council. He did not give further details.

That covers just over a third of the $700 million budget announced for the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) last year.