Egyptian army confirms security campaign against illegal gold mining
The Egyptian army confirms the continuation of the campaign against illegal gold mining in the Eastern Desert, reaffirming deep ties with Sudan following accusations of air raids.
Translated by Qiyas from النهار — Original source
Cairo (Agencies): The Egyptian army announced the continuation of a security campaign to combat illegal gold mining in the Eastern Desert, affirming that its operations aim to enforce sovereignty within the borders of the Egyptian state. The spokesperson for the Egyptian Armed Forces said, in a statement published on his official Facebook account, that law enforcement elements from the armed forces and civil police continued implementing the third phase of the expanded campaign to confront illegal gold ore mining in the Eastern Desert. He clarified that the campaign followed the distribution of warning leaflets to those described as “criminal elements,” with the goal of fully enforcing sovereignty within Egypt’s borders and protecting its national assets and resources.
In the context of the statement, the Egyptian Armed Forces affirmed the deep ties linking Egypt and Sudan at both the political and popular levels. It regarded the peaceful coexistence enjoyed by millions of Sudanese on Egyptian soil as a testament to the strength of relations between the two countries. The Egyptian Armed Forces called on the people of the Nile Valley to obtain information from official sources and to avoid being swayed by what it described as “biased rumors and external agendas aimed at undermining the fraternal relations between the Egyptian and Sudanese peoples.”
The Egyptian statement came a day after a Sudanese group accused the Egyptian air force of carrying out airstrikes on Saturday that targeted workers in the North Wadi area within Sudanese territory, resulting in the deaths of 72 people. Following the incident, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and commander of the Sudanese army, ordered on Monday the formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate the deaths of mining workers in the border area with Egypt.
Meanwhile, investigations continued into the shooting of Egyptian drivers in Khartoum, while Sudanese police, in its first comment, stated that the incident was “isolated.”
