UNAMID provides equipment to anti-carjacking Sudanese police
December 11, 2008 (EL-FASHER) — The joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) last Sunday has handed over equipment for two new Sudanese police posts in the vicinity of UNAMID’s Headquarters in the city of Nyala, South Darfur.
The two posts are installed in addition to the current post after the increase of carjacking of UN and International NGOs. Last week, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes told the Security Council that 261 vehicles had been hijacked and 172 compounds broken into so far this year.
The posts will serve as permanent checkpoints, mainly in supporting the night patrolling carried out by the Sudanese Emergency Police and National Security forces around the UNAMID compound.
The basic equipment handed over to the police personnel includes beds, tables, chairs, large and small water containers, mattresses and other items to facilitate their accommodation.
Hundreds of humanitarian and peacekeeping vehicles have been hijacked or stolen thus far this year in both government- and rebel-held areas.
Holmes told the UN security Council that rebel movements, or those linked to them, appear primarily responsible for the majority of “these terrifying incidents” in rural areas, but many also occur in main towns in Government control, he added.
By the end of last November the AU-Un peacekeeping mission launched a specialized unit to conduct night security patrols to prevent carjacking in El-Fasher capital of North Darfur. The night patrol “is a pilot project that in time will be replicated in other areas of Darfur once UNAMID’s capacity allows,” the mission said.
(ST)