The key facts

  • Colonel Ahmed Samir and Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Ghouda — commanders of border guard units in the southern region — were killed
  • Over three phases (June 14 — October 29), 691 people were detained, and another 6,614 surrendered before the operations began
  • The fourth phase begins on Saturday and will last 'until the objectives are achieved'

Deaths of officers and a new phase of the campaign

Two senior officers of Egypt's border guard were killed in armed clashes during a military campaign against illegal gold mining in the Eastern Desert near the border with Sudan. The Egyptian army announced this on Friday, Anadolu reports. Military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Osman named the fallen: Colonel Ahmed Samir, chief of staff of the border guard forces of the southern region, and Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Ghouda, head of the operations department of a border guard battalion of the Southern Military Region.

Results of the three phases

Osman announced the officers' deaths at a press conference dedicated to the results of the three phases of operations against illegal gold mining. He said the operations involved shootouts, but did not specify exactly when the officers were killed. The first phase took place from June 14 to 30 and covered two districts of the Eastern Desert, including an area west of Marsa Alam and the Gebel Ikat area; the second ran from July 31 to August 18 in Wadi Dabour and Al-Baramia; the third, from October 12 to 29, included repeat sweeps of previously covered areas.

Detentions and seizures

According to the spokesman, 691 people were detained over the three phases — 151 Egyptians and 540 foreign nationals, while another 6,614 people surrendered before the operations began. Seized were 34 weapons, 6,307 rounds of ammunition, 317 cars, 19 motorcycles, 916 pieces of engineering equipment, 73 metal detectors, 433 generators, satellite communications equipment, 4,488 tents and temporary shelters, 860 tons of mined rock containing gold ore, as well as sums of money.

Nature of the threat and the fourth phase

Osman said that illegal gold mining turned out to be linked to other crimes, including transnational criminal networks and arms trafficking. According to him, armed groups fighting for control over some mining areas are armed with light weapons, heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft means and sniper rifles. The army also carried out preemptive operations to cut off supply routes for weapons and ammunition to 'criminal elements' operating across the border. The fourth phase will begin on Saturday and will continue 'until the set objectives are achieved.' Osman stressed that the armed forces are not directed against civilians, and that the campaign is intended to protect Egypt's natural resources.

The Sudanese context

The developments followed October's move by the head of Sudan's Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who ordered the creation of a commission to investigate the deaths of Sudanese gold prospectors near the Egyptian border. After that, Egypt and Sudan affirmed the strength of their bilateral relations and warned against any attempts to create tension between the two countries.