Senior military officials from Nigeria and some of its neighboring countries have held talks to define strategies for a new regional force against Takfiri Boko Haram militants.

Military chiefs of staff from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon and a high-level military official from Benin came together in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Tuesday to discuss ways to cope with the militant group.

The meeting “points to our common resolve to work together to put an end to a menace that has become a regional and indeed a global problem,” Nigeria’s chief of defense staff Alex Badeh said at the start of talks.

“If there is any time for us to rise in one voice irrespective of our differences, it is now,” he added.

Troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon have been fighting Boko Haram militants in recent months.

The meeting between the military officials is being held in preparation for talks on Thursday between the heads of state of the five countries.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former army general who took power on May 29, has vowed to end Boko Haram’s six-year militancy.

Buhari announced the transfer of the military command center from Abuja to the strategic city of Maiduguri, a stronghold of Boko Haram, and visited Niger and Chad to push for continued cooperation against the militants.

Boko Haram started its militancy in 2009. Some 15,000 people have since been killed and around 1.5 million others displaced.