The funding for the 8,700-strong multinational force to combat Boko Haram’s deadly Islamist insurgency in West and Central Africa falls well short of the projected target of $700m at the donor conference on Monday.
The conference could only raise $250m. 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. Donors include Nigeria, France, Britain and the European Union.
The talks followed the militia’s latest attack, which killed at least 65 people in northeast Nigeria on Saturday. Boko Haram have killed thousands of people, kidnapped women and children and rendered over 2m people homeless in the 6 years of its insurgency.
Regional armies from Niger, Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon mounted an offensive against the insurgents last year that ousted them from many positions in northern Nigeria. The United States has also sent troops to supply intelligence and other assistance but total annihilation of the terrorist group is far from being accomplished
