According to the Chadian Press and Publicity Agency (ATPE), citing statements by Deputy Prime Minister Limane Mahamat, who is in charge of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, some 42 people died in the Dar Tama department, in eastern Chad, due to a dispute between two families over a watering trough that triggered a spiral of reprisals. Meanwhile, the government sent a delegation to the area, headed by Mahamat himself, Defense Minister Issaka Maloua Djamous, and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Abakar Abdelkremim Daoud, to investigate the situation and take control.
The situation in Chad is worsening due to the arrival of Sudanese refugees fleeing the war, which is causing increased tension in border areas over control of basic resources such as water and food.
In African countries like Chad, clashes between nomadic Muslim herders and Christian farmers are also frequent, as they vie for control of fertile land used for grazing livestock or cultivating crops.
Violent clashes between community groups in Chad have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people and displaced more than six thousand, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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