Chad President Idriss Deby has declared a state of emergency in two eastern
provinces on Sunday after violent intercommunal clashes left dozens dead.
The state of emergency will run for three months in Sila and Ouaddai
regions where 50 people have died since August 9 in fighting between cattle
herders and settled farmers.
Deby said military forces would be deployed who are going to ensure the
security of the population in the region and all civilians must be disarmed who
have weapons in their hands.
Eastern Chad is in the grip of a cycle of violence between nomadic camel
herders — many from the Zaghawa ethnic group from which Deby hails — and
sedentary farmers from the Ouaddian community.
