East Darfur authorities order tribesmen to return arms

The governor of East Darfur has given gunmen 24 hours to return the military equipment they seized from the Central Reserve Police in Abu Karinka locality last Wednesday.

The deadline would end on Saturday, East Darfur governor Col. El Tayeb Abdelkarim, told reporters on Friday. He demanded the return of two Land Cruisers, two Dushka machineguns, four other machine guns, and seven rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).

On Wednesday, fighting erupted between Rizeigat and Ma’aliya tribesmen in the area of Wad El Bilal, west of Abu Karinka town, against the backdrop of mutual livestock rustling. Both parties were heavily armed, and made use of Land Cruisers mounted with machineguns in the fighting. The paramilitary Central Reserve Police, known as “Abu Tira”, has enlisted many Rizeigat among its troops.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga from Abu Karinka, a listener said that “the Ma’aliya refuse to return the weapons, considering them to be their property, not of the government. They say that the weapons were used against the people in the locality”.

The source added that the security committees of Abu Karinka and Adila localities and the chieftain of the Ma’aliya tribe on Friday engaged in extensive dialogues with the militant tribesmen to return the vehicles and weapons.

He confirmed that the situation in the area is very tense, and warned for the possibility of renewed clashes in the area, between the authorities and the militants, in case the equipment is not returned.