Dirkou is a town in the Bilma Department, Agadez Region of north-eastern Niger.

It lies in the northern Kaouar escarpment, a north–south line of cliffs which form an isolated oasis in the Sahara desert.

[1] Apart from the main city of Dirkou, the rural communities of Achénouma, Aney, and Emi Tchouma lie within the borders of the commune.

While isolated in modern Niger, it once lay on the important central soudan route of the Trans-Saharan trade which linked coastal Libya and the Fezzan to the Kanem–Bornu Empire near Lake Chad.

[3][4] The Central Intelligence Agency operates an armed drone base near Dirkou, targeting Islamic State militants in southern Libya.