New campaign to curb insecurity in North Darfur’s capital

The governor of North Darfur state announced a new campaign to curb the rampant insecurity in El Fasher, the state capital.

In an interview with the North Darfuri radio channel in El Fasher on Wednesday, Governor Osman Kibir said that Emergency Courts will be established, “in order to immediately prosecute the criminals and outlaws who are terrorising the residents of the capital and its surroundings”.

Kibir pointed to the recurrent carjacking in the North Darfuri capital, and stressed the earlier imposed prohibition of vehicles with tinted windows, the wearing of the kadamool (a turban veil covering most of the face), and the carrying of weapons by civilians.

The North Darfur state regular forces will now control all the entrances to El Fasher, and inspect all suspected sites in the city, he added.

According to the governor, “monitoring officers” discovered that “many rebel fighters are sneaking into a number of large Darfuri towns, after their recent defeat in East Jebel Marra”.

In October 2013, Kibir had announced the “Google scheme”, consisting of a package of measures to tackle the insecurity in the state. The carrying of firearms to markets or public places, the wearing of “any means to cover the face”, and the smoking of shisha water pipes in public places, were prohibited.

The government of South Darfur state imposed such security measures in July 2014, and established an Emergency Court in August. The deputy governor of South Darfur state, Abdelrahman Gardud, said in October last year that the emergency measures led to a decline of crimes in Nyala, capital of South Darfur.