Chad President Idriss Deby declared a state of emergency in two eastern provinces on Sunday after violent intercommunal clashes left dozens dead earlier this month. The state of emergency will run for three months in Sila and Ouaddai regions bordering Sudan where 50 people have died since August 9 in fighting between cattle herders and settled farmers, the president's office said.

"From now, we will deploy military forces who are going to ensure the security of the population in the region," Deby said while on a trip to Sila. "We must disarm all the civilians who have weapons in their hands," he said. Eastern Chad is in the grip of a cycle of violence between nomadic camel herders and sedentary farmers from the Ouaddian community.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019