Bows at the ready, Chad villagers battle kidnappings

Breaking up into small groups, some crouch behind eucalyptus tree trunks while others crawl on through the undergrowth in the early morning sunlight. Another signal is given and everyone stops in their tracks -- the strings of the bows and the elastic of slingshots are drawn back in the direction of an imaginary target. A chorus of raised voices orders the hostages be released and that weapons be put down. For more than 20 years, isolated villages in the densely populated Mayo-Kebbi Ouest region have been a hunting ground for kidnappers.