Gunmen carjack UNDP vehicle in South Darfur

April 9, 2015 (NYALA) – Gunmen carjacked a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) vehicle in Nyala the capital of South Darfur state on Thursday, a UN official said.

“While he was collecting an employee residing in Hay Almattar neighbourhood in Nyala, the driver of a UNDP minibus was intercepted by three armed men who ordered him at gun point to drive the vehicle outside the town and headed into unknown destination,” the source told Sudan Tribune on condition of anonymity.

The commissioner of the state governor affairs, Abdel Mutalab Ali Idriss, confirmed the car- theft crime, adding that the security agencies are hunting the perpetrators and to bring them to justice.

“The police will do their utmost to arrest the carjackers wherever they may be,” Idriss said when he was reached by Sudan Tribune.

“Although the security situation is improving in South Darfur state, the outlaws continue to attack civilians in the areas where there is a weak presence of security forces,” he added.

Nonetheless, he pointed that the security situation is now better than the period before the imposition of the emergency law and curfew denying laxity in the implementation of the emergency measures.

South Darfur, at the difference of some other states, is witnessing few rebel activities. However the state is known for criminal activities and robbery committed by armed gangs.

Since July 2014, the governor Adam Mahmoud Jar al-Nabi, declared an indefinite emergency situation in South Darfur state, including a curfew from 7pm to 7am (local time) in the capital Nyala.

The decision also banned riding of motorcycles by more than one person, holding weapons while wearing civilian clothes, vehicles driving around without license plates, and wearing a kadamool (a turban which covers the face).

(ST)