People prepare to destroy confiscated unlicensed firearms in Hajar Al Asal area in northern Sudan, on Sept. 29, 2020. The Sudanese government on Tuesday destroyed 300,000 unlicensed firearms confiscated as part of the National Project for Collecting Firearms. (Photo by Mohamed Khidir/Xinhua)
HAJAR AL ASAL, Sudan, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government on Tuesday destroyed 300,000 unlicensed firearms confiscated as part of the National Project for Collecting Firearms.
At a ceremony held in Hajar Al Asal area in northern Sudan, Ibrahim Jabir Ibrahim, a member of the Sovereign Council, announced that the destruction of these unlicensed arms ends the first three phases of the arms collection project.
He also declared the start of the 4th phase, during which the government will conduct forced collection of arms and implement strict measures to prevent the possession of weapons, which will be limited to the regular armed forces only.
Ibrahim urged the international community to support Sudan to implement the fourth stage through providing technical support and modern devices, citing that Sudan is a big country surrounded by many neighboring states whose coordination is required in this disarmament campaign.
In April this year, Sudan established a higher committee for collecting arms and unlicensed vehicles as part of a project aimed at collecting illegal firearms from civilians and controlling smuggling of vehicles into the country. Enditem
