No fewer than twelve people have been killed in southern Chad following clashes between herders and farmers in the region which is believed to have frequently witnessed ethnic friction over land.
The development was made reported by local authorities around the area on Friday.
‘A herder who was moving his animals was killed by farmers on Wednesday and in reprisal, herders armed with guns killed 11 farmers,’ the governor of Moyen-Chari province, Ali Ahmat Akhabach, newsmen in an interview.
Africa Today News, New York gathered that the incident took place on Thursday in the village of Sandana, about 550 kilometres (320 miles) south of the capital N’Djamena.
‘The toll is 12 dead, and several armed people were arrested,’ Ahmat Akhabach said. ‘The situation is currently under control.’ he added.
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In a statement, the Chadian Convention for Human Rights, an NGO, attacked what it called a “savage killing” and ‘the use of force… as a way to resolve’ disputes.
Squabbles of this kind are common in central and southern Chad, typically pitching semi-nomadic Arab herders against darker-skinned sedentary farmers.
Clashes erupt when animals graze on farmers’ fields, destroying the crops.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that in February 2021, 35 people were killed in southern Chad in similar circumstances, and 22 died in the more arid eastern part of the country in August.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK