North Kordofan collects 10,000 illegal arms: police director
October 20, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The police director of North Kordofan state Ahmed al-Dihaish disclosed the start of the final phase of the disarmament campaign saying they so far collected about 10,000 illegal weapons.
He told the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) that they also registered more than 832 unregulated vehicles, saying the campaign has covered all localities of North Kordofan state.
Al-Dihaish further said the native administration and the residents have positively responded to the collection of illegal arms, stressing the need to impose the authority of the state and carry out the directives of the presidency.
Launched last August, the six-month disarmament campaign aims to eliminate weapons in the conflict-affected areas in Sudan, particularly in Kordofan and Darfur regions.
The Sudanese authorities say the spread of weapons among the rival tribes in those regions is one of the main causes of instability.
However, some tribal leaders, such as Musa Hilal refuse to hand over their arms and defy the government. Observers fear that the second phase would generate armed clashes in the region between his militia and the government forces.
The higher committee for the collection of weapons and unregulated vehicles started the forcible phase of the campaign in all the states of Sudan on 15 October.
(ST)