Remains of a destroyed a town in South Sudan.

The government is calling on IGAD to monitor and prevent the proliferation of arms in the region as a way of maintaining stability.

The Minister of Cabinet Affairs says the flow of arms into South Sudan is contributing to the resurgence of conflicts.

Dr. Elia Lomoro, who was speaking during the UN Peacekeepers’ Day yesterday, urged IGAD to investigate and stop countries supplying weapons to civilians in the region.

“What you see as violence connected with cattle rustling and child abduction indicates that only guns earned during the long period of war have made it [crisis] more complicated,” said Dr Lomoro.

“The challenges are for all of us particularly the IGAD countries and the question must be: where are these civilians getting guns from?

“Which country surrounding South Sudan is giving guns to civilians, arming them for war purposes or for the purpose of defense?

“The IGAD countries [should] ensure that no other country in the IGAD region should be a conduit of guns to any of its neighbors.”

Dr. Elia said preventing the flow of illegal arms in the hands of civilians will reduce insecurity in the country.

Early this month, the Small Arms Survey’s Human Security Baseline Assessment for Sudan and South Sudan reported that much of weapons circulating in the two countries are produced in Sudan, China and Iran.

The research found that Sudanese security forces as the primary source of weapons to non-state armed groups in Sudan and South Sudan, through deliberate arming and battlefield capture.