The Chadian Minister of Communication, Abdulrahman Koulamallah, on Monday, disclosed that at least 23 people were killed during late March clashes between herders and farmers in a region of southern Chad that is involved in similar land disputes.

The minister revealed that the fighting began as a result of the “assassination” of a nomadic Arab-speaking herder and raged between March 17 and 21 in three villages in the southern fertile region of Moyen-Chari.

Following the death of the herder, relatives and deceased clan members, based in the drier north of the country, led a punitive raid in the village they believed was responsible for his death.

The clashes, which lasted for seven days and spread to two other villages, resulted in nine deaths among the Arab herders and 14 from the local Sara-Kaba people, including four women and two children.

The minister, however, revealed calm had returned on Monday.

He said 21 people have been arrested and investigations were underway to find the “authors, facilitators and accomplices of these crimes”.