At least 17 people, all women and children, have been killed in southwestern Chad following a machete attack by armed herders, an official from the regional governor’s office confirmed to AFP on Friday.
The violence reportedly stemmed from an ongoing dispute between nomadic Fulani herders and Ngambaye farmers over grazing and farmland boundaries, according to local sources.
The Fulani, who are frequently stigmatised across the wider Sahel region and often accused of ties with Islamist militant groups, were blamed for the assault.
“The Fulani, in collusion with others, attacked the small village. They killed six women and 11 children,” said General Delegate Abdelmanane Katab, describing the massacre as a “vendetta.”
The attack occurred on Thursday in the village of Oregomel, located around five kilometres from Mandakao, the site of a previous attack a month earlier in which 42 people were killed, Katab noted.
In relation to that earlier incident, Prosecutor Mahamat Abdou Issa told AFP that 20 assailants had been arrested.
In southern Chad, where many residents follow Christian or traditional African religions, there are persistent complaints of marginalisation by the predominantly Muslim government based in N’Djamena.
Meanwhile, intercommunal violence has claimed at least 20 more lives in the eastern province of Ouaddai since last week, according to local and parliamentary sources.
A local source, who requested anonymity, said the unrest began when two armed youths from an Arab pastoralist group stole a motorbike from a member of the farming community. Both alleged thieves were reportedly killed in the ensuing clashes.
Chad’s eastern region, which borders Sudan and sees high population movement, has long been plagued by conflicts between Arab herders and local farmers.
According to the International Crisis Group, violence between farmers and pastoralists in Chad led to over 1,000 deaths and 2,000 injuries between 2021 and 2024.
