Egyptian Army Reveals Details of Incident Along Egypt’s Southern Border with Sudan

The Egyptian Armed Forces said they had cooperated with elements of the Ministry of Interior to apprehend foreign nationals who had illegally entered Egypt’s Southern Military Zone and were engaged in unregulated mining activities.

In a statement issued on Monday, the military spokesman said the Egyptian Army had launched a large-scale operation in the Southern Military Zone targeting several criminal hotspots exploited by organized criminal networks to conduct illicit activities, including drug and arms trafficking, illegal gold mining, and irregular migration.

The raids resulted in the arrest of individuals involved in these unlawful activities, including 87 Egyptian nationals and 136 foreign nationals. Authorities also seized 14 vehicles of various types, wireless communication devices, sums of money in Egyptian pounds and foreign currencies, quantities of unlicensed weapons and ammunition, and large amounts of equipment and machinery used in unregulated mineral prospecting activities.

The operation also led to the apprehension of a number of infiltrators who were in Egypt without official residency documents. The individuals and seized items were referred to the competent judicial authorities to initiate all necessary legal proceedings in accordance with international conventions and the standards of international humanitarian law.

Concurrently with the launch of the operation, a number of individuals who had entered Egyptian territory illegally voluntarily surrendered to security checkpoints and positions. They were subsequently repatriated to their countries while all their humanitarian needs were duly taken into consideration.