Hundreds of Chadian troops have reportedly been deployed on Wednesday along the border with neighboring Cameroon to stop rebels from abducting civilians after armed men kidnapped a dozen Cameroonians last week.
The latest wave of violence between the Massa and Moussey ethnic communities erupted in border areas, in a tract of land wedged between Nigeria and Chad, late last month. The clashes between the two groups in northern Cameroon over cattle theft have killed at least 5 people, wounded a dozen more and several dozen houses were torched, local authorities said on Monday (9 December). Chad’s military said it has freed the kidnapped victims but added its troops need civilian help to stop the new escalating wave of local inter-communal violence.
Meanwhile, officials in Cameroon say that since then, several hundred civilians have been afraid to return to the Gobo district, located along the central African state’s northern border with Chad. Governor of Chad’s Mayo-Kebbi East region, Abdelkerim Seid Bauche, said that Chad is very concerned about the ongoing violence because weapons are illegally smuggled across the porous border and can be used by armed gangs to destabilize communities. He said Chad deployed troops on its side of the border Wednesday (11 December) to stop rebels and armed gangs from abducting civilians and crossing with weapons into Mayo-Kebbi East.