DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania police on Tuesday destroyed 6,208 firearms that were surrendered by citizens who owned them illegally.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam during the destruction of the firearms that have been surrendered within one year, the Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, Jumanne Sagini, said the obliteration of the firearms was part of government efforts to fight armed robberies.
Sagini ordered police to investigate reasons that made three regions of Tanga, Tabora and Coast to be leading in the number of surrendered firearms.
"The police should investigate why people in these three regions led in illegal possession of firearms," he said.
Sagini said statistics showed that during a one-month special crackdown that began on Sept. 5 through Oct. 31, 1,220 firearms were surrendered.
He said out of the 1,220 surrendered firearms, 488 firearms were surrendered in the Tanga region, followed by the Tabora region with 247 surrendered firearms and Coast had 111, and 374 firearms were surrendered in other 23 regions.
