Tears as 17 women, children died in Chad’s brutal machete attack

At least 17 people, all women and children, were butchered in a violent machete attack by suspected armed Fulani herders in Oregomel, a village in southwestern Chad, authorities confirmed on Friday, June 20, 2025.

The attack, which occurred on Thursday, has been described by officials as a continuation of a long-simmering vendetta rooted in ethnic and territorial disputes between nomadic Fulani herders and sedentary Ngambaye farmers.

General Delegate Abdelmanane Katab, speaking on behalf of the regional governor, told AFP that the attackers stormed the small village in the early hours of the day and carried out a systematic massacre.

“The Fulani, in collusion with others, attacked the small village. They killed six women and 11 children,” Katab stated.

He added that the incident is likely linked to an earlier clash in the nearby town of Mandakao just a month ago, where 42 people were reportedly killed in a similar raid.

Authorities said the violence stems from disputes over land use, particularly the encroachment of grazing cattle onto farmlands in the region.

“These attacks are part of an ongoing pattern of retaliatory violence,” Katab said, confirming that investigations are ongoing.

Prosecutor Mahamat Abdou Issa disclosed that 20 individuals had been arrested in connection with the earlier Mandakao killings.

Chad’s southwestern region has been a hotspot for intercommunal conflict, with tensions frequently erupting between Fulani herders—who often travel with armed escorts—and local farming communities.

The conflict has religious and ethnic undertones.

The predominantly Christian and animist southern regions of Chad have long accused the Muslim-majority central government in N’Djamena of neglect, marginalisation, and heavy-handed responses to communal violence.

Meanwhile, violence continues to spread across other parts of the country. In the eastern province of Ouaddai, at least 20 more people have been killed in intercommunal clashes since last week, according to local officials and members of parliament.

Sources said the latest round of violence was triggered when two armed youths from an Arab pastoralist group allegedly stole a motorbike from a farmer. Both suspects were reportedly killed, sparking reprisal attacks.

Chad’s eastern corridor, bordering conflict-ridden Sudan, remains volatile with large-scale population movements and frequent clashes over grazing routes and agricultural boundaries.

According to the International Crisis Group, clashes between herders and farmers have claimed over 1,000 lives and left more than 2,000 injured across Chad between 2021 and 2024.

Security forces have been deployed to the affected areas to prevent further violence, but residents say the lack of long-term solutions and justice continues to fuel the cycle of killings.

As of press time, no group has officially claimed responsibility for the Oregomel killings.

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