Interior minister orders crackdown on festive firing

Interior minister Ghaleb Al Zu’bi said Saturday that festive firing has reached levels that cannot be tolerated and that the necessary legal, social, educational and religious curbs are needed to eliminate the phenomenon.

In a meeting held at the ministry to discuss domestic issues, which was attended by the state minister for media affairs and the directors of security departments, Zu’bi asked local administrators and security forces to deal firmly with those shooting during festive occasions and to take legal and administrative action against the violators.

He also urged stricter monitoring and intensified efforts by the competent police units at both the operational and awareness levels, and to hit hard at those illegally using firearms through data collection and security raids.

The interior minister stressed that application of the rule of law without bias or discrimination would provide the proper environment to reduce crime and criminal phenomena that required a cooperative social effort involving all official institutions and grassroots organisations.

He emphasised the role of religious, cultural, social and educational civil society institutions in spreading awareness on the dangers of festive firing, which could take innocent lives, and raise the citizens’ sense of responsibility. He also urged the media to help spread awareness about “this issue and its devastating impact on individuals and society as a whole”.

Source: Fana News