Hussien Elkabany and Rania Abushamala
13 October 2026•Update: 13 October 2026
Egypt’s military said late Monday that it was combating illegal gold mining in the Eastern Desert while underscoring its strong ties with Sudan after Khartoum opened an investigation into the deaths of miners near the Egyptian border.
The military said in a statement that armed forces and civilian police personnel were continuing the third phase of a large-scale campaign against unauthorized gold exploration.
It said the operation followed the dropping of warning leaflets to enforce sovereignty within Egypt’s borders and protect its national resources and wealth.
The campaign began on June 22 with the military announcing the detention of people involved in illegal mining, including Sudanese nationals. Its second phase began on Aug. 2, while the third started Monday.
The military affirmed “the depth of the ties linking the Egyptian and Sudanese nations at the political and popular levels,” saying the peaceful coexistence enjoyed by millions of Sudanese in Egypt demonstrated those ties.
It urged people in both countries to obtain information from official sources and avoid misleading rumors and foreign agendas seeking to undermine relations between the two peoples.
The statement did not directly address allegations that Egyptian aircraft may have carried out a strike on miners inside Sudanese territory.
Earlier Monday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Sudanese counterpart Mohieddin Salem spoke by phone and stressed mutual respect for each country’s sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and borders, according to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.
Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan also ordered the formation of a fact-finding committee on Monday to investigate the reported killing of miners near the Egyptian border on Saturday.
On Sunday, the independent Emergency Lawyers group said the death toll from an airstrike in the North al-Wadi area inside Sudanese territory had risen to 72 miners. It said Egyptian aircraft were suspected of carrying out the attack.
Sudan’s artisanal mining sector employs more than 2 million people, often in harsh conditions, and accounts for around 80% of the country’s gold production.
The Sudanese government permits artisanal mining while seeking to regulate the sector, which provides employment for large numbers of people.
Sudan relies on gold as a major source of foreign currency after losing three-quarters of its oil revenues following South Sudan’s secession in July 2011.
The country has been engulfed in a war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced around 13 million, according to UN and international estimates.