World · Africa · 4 hrs ago
Egyptian Army Says 691 Gold Miners Arrested Near Sudan Border
Egypt’s army says it arrested 691 people in an operation against illegal gold mining near the border with Sudan.
Army spokesman Ahmed Etman said 151 of those arrested were Egyptian and 540 were foreigners.
He said more than 6,000 others surrendered before the operation began.
The announcement comes after at least 72 miners were killed in an airstrike on a gold mine near the border in October; a rights group blamed Egypt’s air force, while Etman said civilians were not targeted, without making clear whether he meant that strike.
Gold is important to Sudan’s war, and more than half of Sudan’s mined gold was smuggled out, according to a 2024 UN report.
The Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group fighting in Sudan, have smuggled gold from Darfur and Kordofan to fund themselves.
Egypt’s army said 691 people were arrested in an operation against illegal gold mining near the Sudanese border.
Army spokesman Ahmed Etman said 151 of those arrested were Egyptian and 540 were foreigners.
Etman said more than 6,000 others surrendered before the operation began.
The arrests come after at least 72 gold miners were killed in October in airstrikes on a mine near the Egypt-Sudan border.
A rights organisation accused Egypt’s air force of carrying out the attack, while the army spokesman said no civilians were targeted.
- Who
- Egypt’s army arrested 151 Egyptians and 540 foreigners.
- What
- The army said it arrested 691 people in an operation against illegal gold mining.
- When
- The army announced the arrests on Thursday. The article was published on November 5, 2026.
- Where
- Near Egypt’s border with Sudan.
- Why
- The army said the operation targeted illegal gold miners.
Egyptian army
Rights organisation
Responsibility for October airstrikes
Egyptian army
The army spokesman said operations targeted weapons and ammunition depots and that no civilians were targeted.
Rights organisation
The organisation accused the Egyptian air force of carrying out the attack that killed at least 72 gold miners.
Targeting of civilians
Egyptian army
Etman said no civilians were targeted.
Rights organisation
The organisation’s accusation concerned an attack that killed gold miners; its view on whether they were deliberately targeted is not stated.
More than 6,000 people surrendered themselves, according to army spokesman Ahmed Etman.
Egypt’s army released images it said showed illegal gold miners and announced that 691 people had been arrested.
At least 72 gold miners were killed in airstrikes on a gold mine near the Sudan-Egypt border.
- Arrests
- 691 people
- Egyptian detainees
- 151
- Foreign detainees
- 540
- People who surrendered before the operation
- More than 6,000
- Miners killed in October
- At least 72
What people are saying
Operations were conducted based on precise and confirmed intelligence, complete with coordinates of weapons and ammunition depots, which were targeted using armed unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), no civilians were targeted