Chad's government declared a state of emergency on Monday in the capital N'Djamena and some eastern areas, where raiders on horseback have killed hundreds of villagers in ethnic attacks in recent weeks. The measure included the appointment of special ministers with far-reaching powers for the affected regions and a tightening of media censorship.
President Idriss Deby's government already faces armed insurgency from the east, which has been caught up in spillover violence from neighbouring Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region. The government has accused Sudanese Arab militia of provoking clashes between Arab and non-Arab Chadians through frequent raids over Chad's eastern border with Darfur.
"This state of emergency aims to halt the serious attacks on public order due to the rampant insecurity in these regions," Communications Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said after a special cabinet meeting.
As well as areas affected by the latest violence, Doumgor said the state of emergency was also being imposed as a preventive measure in large swathes of northern and southern Chad and in the capital N'Djamena, in western Chad, hundreds of miles (km) from the eastern ethnic clashes.
The capital has escaped much of the violence since the conflict in neighbouring Darfur broke out in 2003 between rebels from non-Arab tribes and Sudanese government troops allied to roving mounted Arab militia known as Janjaweed.