Collecting arms in Darfur top priority, says Sudanese president

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir stressed yesterday that collecting arms in Darfur is a top priority to empty the province of weapons, Anadolu reported.

During a meeting Al-Bashir directed North Darfur State Governor Abdul Wahid Yousif to preserve security and stability in the governorate.

He also directed him to work for the resettlement of displaced people and tackle the security and humanitarian situation.

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Earlier, Sudanese Defence Minister General Awad Mohamed Ahmed bin Auf said that the army is eager to impose the sovereignty of the state and to collect arms from the people, “even if this is carried out forcefully”.

On 7 Aug the Sudanese government launched a campaign for collecting arms and unlicensed vehicles in Sudan’s Darfur region.

The Darfur conflict started in 2003 and resulted in the death of roughly 300,000 Sudanese and displaced some 2.5 million. A joint AU/EU peacekeeping operation, known as UNAMID, has been on the ground for the past decade.