Sudan vows to boost military capabilities on the Red Sea
October 13, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)’s Chief of the General Staff, Emad al-Din Adawi has pledged to proceed with enhancing defence capabilities to protect the country’s coasts on the Red Sea pointing to the strategic importance of the region.
Adawi had inspected the military formations at the strategic Red Sea region on Wednesday within the framework of a visit in which he attended the closing ceremony of the naval exercise dubbed the “Coasts Fire” at Fijab area, north of Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.
On Thursday, he addressed the officers, noncommissioned officers and soldiers, pointing to the strategic importance of the Red Sea military area.
He underscored SAF’s ability to protect Sudan and carry out its constitutional tasks and duties, saying “the armed forces have maintained security and unity of Sudan despite the challenges and will continue to do so”.
Sudan and Egypt have long disputed ownership of the 20, 580 Kilometers triangle of Halayeb, Shalatin and Abu Ramad on the Red Sea.
The area has been under Cairo’s full military control since the mid-1990’s following a Sudanese-backed attempt to kill the former Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.
DISARMAMENT CAMPAIGN
Meanwhile, the Chief of the General Staff revealed that SAF is making arrangements along with the rest of the regular forces within the framework of the disarmament campaign to shut down the border crossings that are being used for arms smuggling.
He pointed out that directives were issued to the commanders of the various SAF units to secure the tracks of the herders and protect the farmers, saying arms must be confined to the regular forces only.
Adawi further said an important phase of the illegal arms collection campaign would be launched on October 15, saying SAF has great powers to carry out its tasks in this regard according to the law.
Since August, the Sudanese authorities launched a campaign to collect weapons and ammunition in a bid to reduce the arsenal of arms in the hands of civilians and restore peace and security in Darfur.
The weapons collection campaign is currently voluntary but the higher committee for the collection of weapons and unregulated vehicles decided to start the forcible phase of the campaign in all the states of Sudan on 15 October.
(ST)