People in countries like Chad are particularly affected by the consequences of climate change.Image: keystone
April 27, 2026, 4:24 p.mApril 27, 2026, 4:24 p.m
42 people were killed and ten others seriously injured in a dispute over a water source in eastern Chad.
A dispute between two families over a well in Wadi Fira province has escalated into a cycle of mutual retaliation, said the country’s deputy prime minister, Limane Mahamat. Mahamat traveled with a high-level delegation to mediate after Saturday’s violence and prevent further escalation.
Chad in Central Africa, itself a desperately poor country, has taken in around a million refugees from its eastern neighbor Sudan, where war has been raging for three years. Mahamat warned of an expansion of the conflict from Sudan to the border regions in Chad. Observers said the clash involved armed Chadians who had returned after taking part in fighting in Sudan.
Deadly clashes over resources such as access to water and pasture continue to occur in the rest of the country. The multi-ethnic state with around 21 million inhabitants, which was a French colony until 1960, is ruled by a small, powerful elite around President and General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno from the small Zaghawa ethnic group, who come from the border area with Sudan. (sda/dpa)