The fighting in Wadi Fira province initially involved two families and escalated into a cycle of reprisal attacks with villages burned down, according to major media reports. Chadian authorities sent a delegation led by deputy Prime Minister Limane Mahamat to the area and the situation has been brought under control, officials said. Deadly communal clashes are common in Chad, often triggered by competition over water and grazing land. The arrival of refugees fleeing the civil war in Sudan has further raised tensions over resources and security. The deputy prime minister said the government is taking all necessary measures to prevent the conflict in Sudan from destabilising the border area.
Historical patterns of violence and impunity persist. In November, 33 people were killed over a disputed well in Dibebe, in the south-west. According to the International Crisis Group, 1,000 people were killed and 2,000 injured in about 100 clashes between 2021 and 2024. Amnesty International documented seven episodes of herder-farmer violence between 2022 and 2024, resulting in 98 deaths. Amnesty said the clashes were driven by climate change and other issues, and authorities failed to adequately protect the population. Amnesty added that responses by security forces were often delayed and perpetrators were not being held to account, fuelling a sense of impunity.