Spanish
At least 22 people died this Saturday in new inter-community clashes between nomadic herders and farmers in a village in the Moyen-Chari province, in southern Chad, where this type of clashes are frequent, local authorities informed EFE.
Violence erupted around 8 a.m., after an incident involving oxen triggered a violent reaction between both groups, Ngonanga chief Malla Adoum confirmed to EFE.
"The hostilities began when some herders took their flocks to the fields cultivated by farmers. While a farmer was trying to drive away the animals to protect his crops, he was unfortunately killed," explained Adoum.
"This loss exacerbated tensions and incited farmers to chase the herders to their camp, which led to a widespread confrontation," he added.
The clash left 14 herders and 8 farmers dead. "These episodes are not an isolated incident; they illustrate a recurring problem in southern Chad, where the lack of arable land and pasture generates growing rivalries between the two communities," Adoum warned.
Chad is one of Africa's main livestock producers, with extensive livestock farming based on transhumance, which forces the animals to be moved in search of water and pastures.
The heavy pressure on resources has deteriorated relations between nomadic Muslim herders and sedentary native farmers, mostly Christians or animists, with frequent clashes in the south of the country and in other fertile areas of its territory.
The peasants accuse the shepherds of plundering their fields by grazing their animals or settling on lands they consider their own.
Furthermore, for over a year, the east of the country has become a scene of frequent clashes between herders and cattle rustlers from Sudan, exacerbated by the outbreak of the Sudanese civil war in April 2023.
