At least 20 people have died with 16 others injured in almost a week of intercommunal violence in a province in eastern Chad, parliamentary and local sources said on Monday.
In a statement sent to AFP, 14 parliamentarians from Ouaddai province, mostly from the ruling party in N'Djamena, said they "strongly condemn these vile acts" and demanded authorities increase efforts to ensure local people's safety.
Government delegate to the province Ismael Yamouda Djorbo, who visited the scene, described the violence as "terrorism" without giving a toll.
One local source who wished to remain anonymous said the unrest started last Tuesday when two armed youths from the Zaghawa community stole the motorcycle of a member of the Ouaddai community, sparking an armed altercation which left eight people dead, including the motorcycle thieves.
Inter-community conflicts
The conflict between the two communities then widened on Saturday when at least 12 Ouaddai residents were killed during an attack by Zaghawa.
"We strongly denounce the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of these crimes in Ouaddai province," Yacine Abdraman Sakine, a lawmaker for the province, said.
"The authorities remain strangely silent in the face of these deadly conflicts," added Sakine.
For several decades, eastern Chad, a key strategic region on the border with Sudan, has been plagued by inter-community conflicts with indigenous Ouaddai residents, mainly farmers, pitted against Arab tribes or Zaghawa herders.
Past clashes
Deadly clashes had already occurred in November 2018, when a dozen people were killed near Abeche, the provincial capital.
The latest massacre comes less than a month after the deaths of 42 people in Mandakao in southwest Chad, according to an official toll, amid a dispute over delimitation of grazing and agricultural areas between Fulani herders and indigenous Ngambaye farmers.
On Monday, the Chadian Human Rights Commission lamented the massacre in Ouaddai and urged the government to "take all necessary measures" to end the outbreaks of unrest.
