Diffa Region

Diffa Region occupies Niger's southeastern corner on Lake Chad's shore—a geography that places it at the center of the Boko Haram insurgency. The region hosts MNJTF Sector 4 operations, where Nigerien forces coordinate (intermittently, given the 2023 coup's disruption) with Nigerian, Chadian, and Cameroonian troops against Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). In 2024, security forces thwarted arms and fuel smuggling attempts, seizing weapons caches and petroleum concealed in grain shipments. Yet violence continues: IEDs along supply routes caused 60% of MNJTF casualties in 2024, and Bakura Doro—Shekau's apparent successor—bases operations in Niger's Baroua area. Beyond security, the region faces repeated climate shocks: 2024 flooding affected over 236,000 people across the Lake Chad Basin, killing hundreds and destroying livelihoods. Agriculture and pastoralism sustain the population when conditions permit, but displacement has been endemic—the MNJTF facilitated return of over 3,800 internally displaced persons and 2,300 refugees in 2024 alone. By 2026, Diffa's trajectory depends on whether security coordination resumes effectively after the coup's disruption, whether Boko Haram factions can be further degraded, and whether climate-resilient livelihoods can develop in a region battered by both war and flooding.