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 spokesman for the Chadian government, Sherif Mohamed Zein, told AFP news agency 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.
He said that the clashes left 22 people dead on each side, some of them killed 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.
Most of the violence follows similar scenarios, with herders, who sometimes cross the border from Sudan, transferring their stocks to farmers’ fields, damaging crops and sparking confrontation between communities.
