Madar (N'Djamena) - Chadian President Marshal Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno on Saturday, 7 November 2026, demoted and suspended the commander of Defence Zone No. 8 and dismissed several administrative officials in Ennedi Ouest province, during a visit aimed at defusing a conflict over pasture and water, according to the Chadian news site Alwihda Info.
According to the same source, the head of state began a security tour of several provinces in Torboul and, less than a quarter of an hour after arriving, convened a crisis meeting with the commanders of Defence Zones No. 1 (Ennedi Ouest) and No. 8 (Ennedi Est), four government ministers, close aides and military chiefs.
The government's delegate general for Ennedi Ouest province, Goukouni Allatchi Tchoubougou, described the ongoing tensions, with a latent dispute over pasture and access to water threatening to turn into open clashes, the site said.
Citing failures to enforce orders to disarm both sides and the "passivity" of some administrative authorities, according to the source, the president demoted on the spot and suspended General Hamoda Mahamat Bechir, commander of Defence Zone No. 8 and military coordinator for Ennedi Est, with his deputy to act in his place. The prefects of Torboul and Mourtcha and the sub-prefect of Am-Djiremé were also dismissed.
Deby also ordered the director general of the State Institutions Security Services (DGSSIE), General Tahir Erda Tahiro, to disarm civilians in the area without delay. "Here we serve the state, we obey the orders of our hierarchy and not of our community. The state is impersonal," he said.
At a later meeting with traditional leaders, the president said land and water fall under state authority. He ordered the Minister of Water and Energy to build livestock water facilities in the area within three months, after which the Security Minister is to deploy nomadic guards to ensure fair access to resources, while a ministerial order will ban herders in Ennedi Ouest from using the water-storage system known as "Guirbé", the same site reported.
