Madar (N'Djamena) - At least 25 people were killed and 22 wounded on Friday, October 30, 2026, in clashes between herders and farmers in the Koula area of south-western Chad, RFI reported on Monday, November 2.
According to RFI, the conflict began at a pond where a herder had come to water his livestock. A dispute with a local farmer escalated when the herder shot the farmer in the foot, setting off an exchange of fire between the two communities. The wounded were taken to the hospital in Ngoura.
The situation is now under control after security forces intervened, and 39 people were arrested and transferred to N'Djamena for judicial proceedings, according to the territorial administration ministry. A government delegation led by several ministers visited the area on Saturday, October 31.
Researchers quoted by RFI attributed the growing toll of such conflicts to weapons of war circulating among civilians and to fast mobilisation by phone, with relatives arriving by motorbike from up to 100 kilometres away. They called for a national strategy involving the Mediator of the Republic, as a rainfall deficit this year has shrunk water reserves.
Chadian authorities had recovered 51 weapons from farmers and herders in Salamat, in the south-east of the country, after another deadly dispute.
