UN peacekeeping chief, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, has called for urgent measures to stem increasing terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin, as lives are lost daily to attacks.

Mr Lacroix told the UN Security Council on Friday that the situation in the Lake Chad Basin region remained highly volatile, highlighting a rising tide of extremist violence as a continuously crippling force.

Mr Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, told the Security Council meeting on Peace and security in Africa that lives were lost daily to terrorist attacks in the region.

He said millions were displaced and health care remained inaccessible, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to rage on the people in the region.

“The fight against terrorism is one of the biggest challenges of our time, and the way in which the international community responds and attacks on its deep causes represent a decisive test.’’

Outlining efforts to push back against terrorist threats, he cited as an important achievement, the formation of the Group of Five (G5) Sahel countries’ Joint Force – comprising Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.

Since its deployment in 2017, the Force has increasingly demonstrated its ability to respond to attacks on civilians.

However, Mr Laxroix stressed that it now stands at a crossroads, requiring more predictable funding to tackle a range of challenges – including terrorism, weak border security and the trafficking of persons, drugs and weapons – all of which impact women most severely.