UNDP vehicle carjacked in Nyala, South Darfur

Gunmen carjacked a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) vehicle in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, on Thursday, a UN official said. The state government pointed out that the security situation in the city still is better than before the entry of the emergency law.

While he was collecting an employee residing in Hay Almatar neighborhood in Nyala, the driver of a UNDP minibus was intercepted by three armed men who ordered him at gunpoint to drive the vehicle outside the town. “They then headed for an unknown destination,” an anonymous source told Sudan Tribune.

The commissioner of the state governor affairs, Abdel Mutalab Ali Idris, confirmed the crime, and added that the security agencies are hunting the perpetrators down in order to bring them to justice. “The police will do their utmost to arrest the carjackers wherever they may be,” Idris said.

“Although the security situation is improving in South Darfur state, the outlaws continue to attack civilians in the areas where there is a weak presence od security forces,” he added. Nonetheless, he pointed that the security situation is now better than the period before the imposition of the emergency law and curfew.

Security measures

Several security measures were issued by Governor Maj. Gen. Adam Mahmoud Jarelnabi in July 2014 to combat the rampant insecurity in the capital city. These included a curfew from 7pm to 7am (local time) in the city, a ban on riding motorcycles with more than one person, a ban on holding weapons while wearing civilian clothes, and vehicles driving around without license plates were forbidden. Also, the wearing of a kadamool (a turban which covers the face) was forbidden.

However, the measures need to be reconsidered and extended, according to the head of the state's Chamber of Commerce this week, in response to recent robberies. He told the press in Nyala that the rampant insecurity in South Darfur is seriously hampering new investments.

A Corolla vehicle belonging to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was hijacked north of El Malaja market in the South Darfur capital last week. In a separate incident, a trader was robbed of his money and mobile telephone in Nyala’s El Masani district.

(Sudan Tribune)

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