Authorities in Jalwau County in South Sudan's Tonj State have collected about 1, 3000 firearms from local residents recently, a local official said.

Jalwau County Commissioner Samuel Gum told Radio Tamazuj on Sunday that they had collected about 1,300 pieces of firearms from the hands of civilians in a campaign aimed at reducing the rate of crime and inter-communal fighting in the area.

Gum further said they face a lot of difficulties in collecting the firearms that are rampant in the possession of the civilians.

He noted that the county’s porous and wide borders has made the collection of arms a very difficult task as people can smuggle arms in and out without being caught.