56 killed, wounded as result of violence in southern Chad
At least 22 people were killed and 34 others were injured in southern Chad, following the outbreak of ethnic violence between nomadic herders and farmers, according to a Chadian government spokesman.
The Minister of Communications and the spokesman for the Chadian government, Sherif Mohamed Zein, told “AFP” that a curfew was imposed in the Kabiya area, where fighting broke out and 66 people were arrested following the incident that occurred on Monday and Tuesday.
The government spokesman said that the clashes left 22 people dead on each side, some of them wounded by arrows, while 34 others were wounded, adding that “several villages on both sides were set on fire.”
The confrontation erupted despite local mediation efforts last Monday, and tensions between settled indigenous farmers and nomadic Arab pastoralists in the arid Sahel have escalated for years, sometimes developing into deadly clashes.
Most of the violence follows similar scenarios, with herders, who sometimes cross the border from Sudan, transfer their stocks to farmers’ fields, damaging crops and sparking confrontation between communities.