(VOVworld) - Nigeria has named Major General Iliya Abbah to lead a new multinational task force to fight Boko Haram Islamists.

Members of the Boko Haram Islamist militant group (Photo: Tunji Omirin, AFP archive)

Nigerian military spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said Thursday that Abbah, who previously commanded military operations in the oil-rich Niger Delta, will be in charge of the 8,700-member force drawn from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin. The force is expected to be more effective than the current alliance in the battle to end Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency, which has claimed 15,000 lives. The new regional force will be headquartered in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad.