At least 22 people have been killed and more than 30 others injured this week in Cameroon’s Far North region in a resurgence of tit-for-tat violence between Arab Choa herders and Mousgoum farmers.
Hundreds of people fleeing the violence have streamed across the border into neighbouring Chad, the mayor of Chad’s capital N’Djamena, Ali Haroun, told Reuters on Thursday.
“We are in a full-on inter-community conflict,” said a Cameroonian regional official, who asked not to be named.
A traditional leader in northern Cameroon, who also asked not to be named, said the violence began over access to water.
“The Arab Choa wanted to take their herds to the banks of a river. The Mousgoum and Massa prevented them,” the leader said.
“This problem needs to be resolved quickly because a few months ago, there were already deaths. Today, when there is a problem between two people from different communities, all the communities get involved with weapons.”
Chad’s President Mahamat Idris Deby said on Twitter late on Wednesday that more than 30,000 Cameroonians had sought refuge in Chad, but did not specify if they were all from the latest wave of violence.
Similar clashes occurred in northern Cameroon in August between Choa herders and Mousgoum fishermen, killing dozens of people and forcing thousands to flee to Chad.
In his Twitter message, Deby urged the international community to provide prompt aid to help Chad deal with the situation.
The violence in Cameroon’s Far North region is taking place in a zone where the army has for years been battling Boko Haram and, more recently, militants linked to Isis.
Local officials say it is the worst ethnic violence they have seen, with one of the reasons being that residents have acquired weapons in recent years in response to insecurity caused by Boko Haram and local bandits.
