The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces announced, on Saturday, the seizure of a shipment of weapons, ammunition and explosives coming from Libya, and the arrest of 4 suspects, including two of Libyan nationals.

This came in a statement issued by Lieutenant-Colonel Ali Ahmed Mahmoud Awaja, commander of the “Rapid Support” forces (affiliated with the Sudanese army).

The military official said, “Patrols of the Rapid Support Forces in the Saif al-Barli area on the border triangle clashed with arms-trading gangs, and managed to seize two GMC brand cars with 36 Kalashnikovs on board.”

He pointed to the seizure of two boxes of hand grenades, in addition to the (Dushka) anti-aircraft gun, the (RPG7) anti-armor launcher, and a large number of ammunition of various kinds.

And he added, “The Rapid Support Forces arrested 4 members of the arms trade gangs, including two of Libyan nationals, during the operation,” without details of the other two.

The southern border areas of Libya, with Sudan, Chad and Niger, include transit routes for convoys of smugglers, arms dealers, people and terrorists, and some of its points are controlled by armed Tabu, Tuareg and other tribes in the desert, and they receive money, goods and fuel in exchange for allowing the smuggling networks to pass through.

Sudan is also combating cross-border crime, arms trade, and the phenomenon of irregular migration, whose rates have doubled in recent years, and is led by organized gangs on its eastern borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as on the northwestern border with Libya, to transport migrants to countries such as Israel through Egypt, and to Europe via Libya.

Anatolia