SUMMARY

FARF was one of the numerous rebel groups fighting the Chadian government. While FARF emerged only in the mid-1990s, Chad has been experiencing civil war for almost the entirety of the post-independence period. The dominating fault line has been between the mainly Muslim north and the Christian-dominated south of the country. In line with this pattern, FARF, which had its bases in the southern prefectures, opposed the regime of Idriss Deby, a northerner and Muslim.

While the [intrastate conflict]/#statebased/615) with the Chadian government drew to a close FARF (Forces armées pour la République fédérale, Armed Forces of the Federal Republic) troops targeted civilians on two occasions in late 1997, which resulted in 30 dead civilians.

The attacks occurred in southern Chad on 2 and 4 December. On both occasions, FARF rebels attacked and killed traders and customers returning from markets. The attack on 2 December took place in Djoher in Logone Occidental and left seven civilians dead. On 4 December, FARF attacked the weekly market in Sarh in Moyen Chari, killing 23 traders. Most of the victims were shot on the spot while others were bludgeoned, stabbed or burnt to death.

The reasons why FARF rebels turned against civilians in the final phase of their armed struggle against the government are unclear and reporting on the events is scarce.

FARF first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1997, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 4 December when rebels attacked traders in Sarh, following an attack two days earlier in Djoher which killed 7 civilians.