Dozens of Boko Haram fighters have given themselves up to authorities in southern Niger, the interior minister said, days after the Islamist group suffered key losses over the border in Nigeria. Minister Mohamed Bazoum wrote on Twitter that thirty one young people from Diffa, who were enrolled a few years ago in Boko Haram, decided to surrender near Nigeria's northeast border. <br/><br/>The fighters arrived in the remote desert town of Diffa in groups and were being held by local authorities. In June, tens of thousands of people fled Diffa as Boko Haram swept the region. Five Niger soldiers were killed by the militants near Diffa in September.<br/><br/>It was not clear what will become of the ex-Boko Haram fighters, but authorities said there was the possibility of reintegrating them back into society. Boko Haram has killed 15,000 people and displaced more than 2 million during a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state in Nigeria. In recent years its attacks have spilled into neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad.