An attack by herders armed with machetes has left at least 17 people, all women and children, dead in a village in southwestern Chad, an official for the regional governor told AFP Friday.

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

The attack in Oregomel on Thursday took place five kilometres (three miles) from Mandakao, where 42 people were killed in an attack a month earlier, he said.

Prosecutor Mahamat Abdou Issa told AFP that 20 “assailants” had been arrested.

A dispute between nomadic Fulani herders and indigenous Ngambaye farmers over the delimitation of grazing and agricultural areas is believed to have sparked the violence, local sources said.

Separately, at least 20 people have died since last week in intercommunal violence in the eastern province of Ouaddai, according to parliamentary and local sources. (AFP)