ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian authorities on Saturday said that police in the northern Amhara regional state intercepted 999 handguns and 30 Kalashnikov rifles smuggled in from neighboring Sudan.
The weapons were concealed inside a fuel tanker truck, the regional state's Central Gonder Administration Communication Department said in a statement.
The fuel tanker truck with illegal weapons was seized at the entrance to its final destination, Gonder city, 664 km north of Addis Ababa.
The truck driver and his assistant have been detained and authorities are searching for the owner of the vehicle, the statement said.
Arms smuggling is relatively common in northwest Ethiopia, with people using firearms as protection against blood feuds and as a personal trophy.
However, smuggled firearms have also been used by criminals to commit robbery and by various minor rebel groups to initiate armed struggle against the government.
