SUMMARY

The "Dar Tama" is the heartland of the Tama group, located on the Chadian side of the Chad - Sudan borderlands. When Idriss Debý (who is Zaghawa) took power in Chad in 1990 members of the Zaghawa occupied this land. From the perspective of the Tama, the Zaghawa group’s control of the land was characterized by brutal behavior towards the Tama population. This struggle for the same land has led to very tense relations between the groups, and the fighting between the two groups has included mutilation, rapes of women, and the burning down of homes. These types of grievances and styles of warfare are similar to the dynamics taking place across the Sudanese border, in the neighboring region of Darfur. The struggle for land, the ongoing rebellion, and the refugee situation creates a very complex situation that also leads to increased tension between different ethnic groups living in the area.

The non-state conflict between Tama and Zaghawa is first included in UCDP data in 2006. In July that year, a Zaghawa attack on a Tama village resulted in at least 20 battle-related deaths, pushing the total death toll above the 25 battle-related deaths threshold.