N’DJAMENA, March 2 (NNN-NEWVISION) — Clashes between herders and farmers in Chad on Tuesday left 11 people dead, a senior local official said.
The conflict between the two communities 600 kilometres east of the capital N’Djamena began Monday near the city of Mangalme following the theft of cattle, the official said, asking not to be named.
In August, 22 people were killed in similar fighting between farmers and herders 500 kilometres south of N’Djamena.
Tension between semi-nomadic Arab herders and sedentary indigenous farmers is a longstanding problem in central and southern Chad, but also in the east where many people are armed.
Farmers accuse herders of pillaging their land with their grazing animals.
Herders typically come from arid regions of the Sahel in northern Chad, seeking to settle on more fertile land for breeding camels and sheep.
