South Kordofan collects 5,000 illicit weapons: governor

August 15, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – The security committee in South Kordofan State said it has collected more than 5,000 illegal weapons pointing out that 2,500 arms have been legalized so far.

During a meeting with Vice-President Hassabo Abdel-Rahman in Kadougli on Tuesday, South Kordofan governor and head of the security committee pointed to ongoing work to officially register the remaining 2500 arms.

He added the Vice-President instructed to double the efforts to collect all illicit weapons and prevent smuggling of arms into South Korodfan from North and West Kordofan states.

Also, the Vice-President instructed to intensify the media campaign to educate the public about the need to notify the authorities of their weapons.

In August 2017, the Sudanese authorities launched a six-month disarmament campaign to eliminate illegal weapons in the conflict-affected areas in Sudan, particularly in Darfur region.

The Sudanese authorities say the spread of weapons among the rival tribes in the region is one of the main causes of Darfur’s instability.

The official statements say 30,000 arms have been collected in the five states of Darfur region during the voluntary process which started in August, while official figures estimate at 700,000 the number of illegal weapons in Darfur.

(ST)