Altcher .. The horror car in Sudan

Al Jazeera Net - Khartoum

The so-called "Thatcher" is dominated by wars and conflicts in Sudan, and by the same name, it is named after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, nicknamed Iron Lady.

It is difficult to count the cars in the country after all military forces, both government and armed movements, have sought to strengthen their fleets of these vehicles manufactured by Toyota Japan.

The Land Cruiser Pickup became a high-risk war machine, although it was just a civilian car designed specifically for desert and rugged areas.

The parties to the conflict in Darfur, particularly the armed factions and the rapid support forces led by Hamidati, have made use of this type of vehicle, but the new use is in Khartoum, where it has become familiar to the streets of the capital and has been used extensively in suppressing demonstrations against the Bashir regime. And other military and security forces.

The Land Cruiser Pickup tires are made up of layers of up to 20 layers, are not affected by long distance ammunition. Each car has two additional frames. The car has eight cylinders, yet does not make a sound as it moves at full speed.

Increasing demand
The owner of a car show in Khartoum, who asked Al Jazeera Net not to be named, said that the Thatcher cars have been heavily requested by government forces for years through agents in the emirate of Dubai and enter the country without customs.

The price of one car is about eighty thousand dollars, and a simple calculation can identify what is spent from the treasury of the Sudan - on the hide of hard currency - to get cars death, as a thousand of them can cost about eight million dollars.

Government forces and rebel movements are likely to have been involved in importing tens of thousands of these vehicles over the last 25 years.

The cars are now deployed in the streets of Khartoum State, and can be seen on every street and corner of the state with plates of either the Rapid Support Forces, the army or the police, and even the operations body of the Security and Intelligence Service.

But it is interesting to note that the speed-support cars are the latest in terms of the model and the most heavily armed. In a simple comparison, the arming of the army vehicle is not only the Dushka but the speed-support vehicles are armed with mortars, RPGs and anti-tank missiles, .

Sulaiman said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) took advantage of the Land Cruiser pickup during Operation Long Arm when it attacked Khartoum from Goz Beida on the border with Chad in 2008.

The Land Cruiser pickup truck is deployed as a means of war in all of West Africa, and even in the war in Libya.

According to the editor of the newspaper "Al-Jarida" Ashraf Abdul Aziz, the Chadian first used this type of cars, in a war waged by former President Hussein Habré against Libyan interference in his country during the eighties of the last century.

He points out that the Chadians used the car's strength to penetrate the sites and to clash with enemy targets, but arming them with the gun was what the Darfur movements apparently discovered, according to Abdel Aziz.

Features
The hardness of the Land Cruiser Pickup seems to have wreaked havoc on the warlords in Sudan, and the regular forces that seek to acquire more of them consistently.

"It has a very large capacity to overcome all rugged terrain, whether clay or sand," said Suleiman. "Tires are made in the frame of airplanes, so it is hard to get muddy.

The car, according to Suleiman, has a very maneuverable ability to be the first vehicle in the fighting. "All countries now use this type of car in combat for their high maneuverability," he said.

He confirms that the Altcher is now the first vehicle for pedestrians is carrying soldiers and is armed with dushka guns, anti-aircraft guns and tanks, as well as multi-purpose, in direct and mobile fighting.

Disease and medication
The adoption of rapid support forces on the Thatcher is an important factor in their distinction over the military - which relies on heavy-duty vehicles and heavy vehicles - to resolve the rebel movements in Darfur and the areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Armed movements in Darfur have used the speed of LAND CRUZER's maneuvering to attack government positions and flee quickly, which has enabled the JEM forces to reach Khartoum despite intelligence information on its movement.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Sadek Yousef, Vice President of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), said that the Land Cruiser Pickup, which has the power of manufacturing loss, is used in wars.

Yousuf advises the Japanese manufacturer Toyota to review its record because it has become an undesirable vehicle among Sudanese, and is increasingly "used to terrify the citizens and was associated with the crimes."

Altcher and Revolution
Since the current protests broke out last December, the Thatcher cars have been a significant presence, as police and the security services used them to suppress the revolution.

But it is striking that the Thatcher lost its ability to maneuver in the alleys of Khartoum neighborhoods and was subjected to a coup in several areas, which facilitated the takeover and destruction by protesters after the soldiers fled.

"Farid," from the Berri district of al-Jazeera Net, said he was a witness to the collision of two Thatcher vehicles in a field near the center of Khartoum after soldiers lost control as they chased protesters.

The demonstration took place before the army command on June 3, surrounded by a group of Thatcher vehicles belonging to regular and semi-regular forces who were protesting at a time when other groups attacked the protestors, killing more than 100 people.