"We cannot understand that the UN missions, which produce very modest results, continue to absorb billions of dollars each year and that the African states do not receive a minimum of resources to combat the tragic spread of terrorism," Moussa Faki Mahamat said in his opening speech at an anti-terrorism summit taking place in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. "We need an innovative approach that includes a new model of financing the fight against terrorism and greater involvement of African institutions and civil society," he added. Mahamat called for greater cooperation between AU states and also between them and their international partners in the fight against terrorist groups. The president of the Pan-African organisation's Commission also warned of an "escalation of terrorism across the continent", where an average of eight incidents and 44 deaths were recorded every day in 2023, compared to four attacks and 18 deaths per day the previous year, according to the AU's Counter-Terrorism Research Centre. "Civilians, unfortunately, continue to bear the brunt of these heinous acts, with over 7,000 victims last year alone," he lamented. In his speech, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu called for the creation of a regional force to combat terrorism, as groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), which originated in Nigeria, are spreading to neighbouring countries. The Nigerian government intends to use the summit, which runs until Tuesday, to promote the creation of a regional centre to combat terrorism. North-eastern Nigeria has been the target of attacks by Boko Haram since 2009, violence that worsened in 2016 with the emergence of its dissident group, ISWAP. Both groups aim to impose an Islamic state in Nigeria, a country with a Muslim majority in the north and a predominantly Christian south. Boko Haram and ISWAP have killed more than 35,000 people and caused around 2.7 million internally displaced persons, mainly in Nigeria, but also in neighbouring countries such as Cameroon, Chad and Niger, according to government and UN data. Read Also: Sudan. African Union calls for diplomacy to resolve war (Portuguese version)