Clashes between Chad gold miners leave 100 dead

Fighting between informal gold miners in a remote part of northern Chad has left around 100 people dead and 40 injured, the government says.

What began as a "mundane dispute between two individuals... degenerated", Defence Minister Daoud Yaya Brahim told the AFP news agency.

The mountainous Kouri Bougoudi district near the Libyan border attracts miners from across Chad and its neighbours.

The clashes occurred last week but details are only emerging now.

The government sent a mission to the affected area - about 1,000km (620 miles) north-east of the capital, N'Djamena - when news of violence first came through.

A large military contingent has restored calm to the area, Gen Brahim is quoted by AFP as saying.

He added that the clashes were between people from Mauritania and Libya.

All gold mining activities in Kouri Bougoudi have now been suspended.