ANKARA 

At least 11 people were killed amid fresh inter-communal clashes in southern Chad between farmers and herders earlier this week, local media reported.

The incident took place in Koumogo, around 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Barh Koh department in the Moyen-Chari region on Monday, the Al Wihda news site said on Wednesday. Police were deployed to the scene.

"If we do not pay attention, it will lead to the destruction of communities," said a local leader contacted by the Chadian news site. He also called for peaceful cohabitation.

Earlier in August, the Central African country's President Idriss Deby said inter-communal conflict had become a "national concern".

The government declared a state of emergency in the eastern provinces of Sila, Ouaddai, and Tibesti in the northwest on Aug. 18. due to intensified clashes between farmers and herders.

In May, dozens of people were killed and wounded amid clashes in Sila between herders and Ouaddai farmers, according to Chadian news reports.

Ouaddai is a strategic region located on the border with Sudan.