Central Darfur governor calls for total disarmament of state

The Governor of Central Darfur, Adeeb Abdelrahman, announced a new campaign on Thursday that aims for the complete disarmament of the state of Central Darfur through the enforced collection of unauthorised weapons.

“All preparations have been completed for the process of forced disarmament of people not authorised to carry arms,” he said. “The time for voluntary collection of weapons has passed.”

During his meeting yesterday in the state capital Zalingei with the delegation of the Weapon Collection Mechanism, headed by Maj Gen Tarig El Orabi, the governor said that the campaign will not exclude anyone.

He indicated that, after the first phase of the voluntary collection had ended, an elaborate plan was crafted for a forced disarmament process of all unauthorised arms carriers.

The disarmament teams are equipped with modern detectors, trained police dogs, and qualified technical teams.

The announcement of the enforced disarmament process comes three weeks after the first Coordination Forum for the governors of the five Darfur states, in which they discussed security concerns, the economy, and social issues. One of the central concerns were the armed robberies in North Darfur.

Earlier this year, Central Darfur faced protests over the lack of security, justice, and adequate services in the state. More protests followed in October as a result of the recurring violence in the region.

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