Chad says weekend violence toll breaches the 100 mark
April 5, 2007 (N’DJAMENA) — Attacks blamed on Sudan’s Janjaweed militia in neighbouring Chad following the killing of two members of an Arab tribe last weekend have claimed more than 100 lives, a Chadian official said Thursday.
“The toll following the attacks in Tiero and Morina has gone up to 100 according to information from the ground,” an official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The government of Chad on Monday had put the toll at 29 after the clashes in two eastern villages bordering Sudan.
Locals however told AFP that the deaths had crossed the 200-mark but these claims were not confirmed either in investigations launched by the government or independent authorities.
The trouble started on Saturday after two members of an Arab tribe were slain by a militia composed of members of the African Dadjo tribe.
Racial tensions between local Africans and the descendants of Arab settlers who fanned out across Africa centuries ago have often led to bloodletting, especially in Sudan which was the scene of Africa’s longest-running civil war.
“Tensions between the Dadjos and Mouros and the Arab tribes were rife in the area before the attack,” the Chadian official said. “There have already been several clashes.”
According to locals several Arab families have left the area following the attacks.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Ron Redmond earlier said Chadian military authorities had reported a total of 65 dead in one of the villages, Tiero, including villagers and combatants.
The death toll was expected to rise, with reports of bodies being found by the roadside, he said.
“We do not know yet how many people have been displaced in total, but preliminary reports by UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies indicate that at least 2,000 people have arrived at the Goz Amir refugee camp.”
The camp is home to about 19,000 Sudanese refugees who fled across the border from neighbouring Darfur.
Between 6,000 and 8,000 people were left homeless following the attacks, authorities in Chad said Monday.
The Khartoum-backed Janjaweed militia and the Sudanese military have been accused of carrying out mass killings during attacks on villages inside Darfur, forcing at least two million people to flee their homes since 2003.
(AFP)