Africa

December 30, 2016 (RUMBEK) – Authorities in South Sudan's Western Lakes state have formed a joint military taskforce to crackdown on highway robbers along Rumbek highway.

They forces, officials told Sudan Tribune, are fully mandated to shoot anybody carrying illegal firearms on the highway.

The decision was reportedly reached as part of efforts by intellectuals from the state, backed up by area lawmakers, to ensure the new state is free from illegal firearms.

The Western Lakes state local government minister, Benjamin Makuer Mabor was tasked to execute what intellectuals and legislators resolved during their meeting.

“Shoot anybody carrying illegal firearms – let him/her put down the gun or shoot him/her to death,” partly reads a resolution from the meeting.

Rumbek, the Western Lakes state capital, has witnessed several highway robberies with authorities blaming it on nomadic pastoralists who often move with illegal firearms.

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December 31, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Saturday has declared extension of the unilateral cessation of hostilities in war zones for one month, disclosing that a higher committee would be established to draft a permanent constitution for the country.

The Sudanese army has been fighting the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, also known as “Two Areas” since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

Last June, al-Bashir declared a unilateral four-month cessation of hostilities in the Two Areas. In October, he extended the ceasefire for a two-month period, and renewed call to the armed and political opposition groups to join the internal national dialogue process.

In his address on the occasion of Sudan's 61st Independence Day, al-Bashir declared “the extension of ceasefire, except in the case of self-defence, for one month in order to make the holdout opposition think positively to join the dialogue”.

It is noteworthy that the SPLM-N, the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM), and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in October extended for six months the unilateral cessation of hostilities in Darfur, Blue Nile and south Kordofan they declared in October 2015 and April of this year.

Following six days of talks in Addis Ababa last August, the armed movements and the government failed to conclude a deal on the security arrangements and humanitarian access in Darfur and the Two Areas prompting the African Union mediation to suspend the talks indefinitely.

Al-Bashir further underscored his government commitment to implement the outcome of the national dialogue, saying the dialogue's doors are still open for the opposition to sign the National Document.

He disclosed that a higher committee to draft the permanent constitution would be formed during the coming few days, saying the constitution will be approved by an elected parliament.

The Sudanese President denied that the dialogue coordination body known as 7+7 was dissolved; saying new members have been added to it in order to follow up on the implementation of the dialogue recommendations.

Since January 2014, al-Bashir has been leading a national dialogue process whose stated aims are to resolve the armed conflicts, achieve political freedoms, alleviate poverty and the economic crisis, and address the national identity crisis.

Last October, the political forces participating at the national dialogue concluded the process by signing the National Document which includes the general features of a future constitution to be finalized by transitional institutions.

The opposition groups boycotted the process because the government didn't agree on humanitarian truce with the armed groups and due to its refusal to implement a number of confidence building measures.

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December 31, 2016 (JUBA)- South Sudanese army in collaboration with different security organs have beefed security, setting up check points, searching and seizing illicit weapons from those carrying them without permission.

Acting SPLA spokesperson,Dominic Santo, described the exercise as a disarmament campaign in Juba to recover illegal weapons and to boost security situation in the capital before New Year's celebrations.

The measure comes in the wake of escalating insecurity and rampant killings and clashes between government forces and armed bandits at night in the city, which have led to several deaths since Dec. 2013.

“The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) with other members of organized forces has begun an operation of collecting illegal firearms from civilians in Juba,” said Col. Santo.

He said they believe there is a huge amount of illegal firearms in the wrong hands in the city, which has seen a rise in robberies and attacks from armed bandits.

The army will not hesitate to use “necessary force” if necessary, he stressed.

(ST)

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