Egypt's crackdown on illegal gold miners along its southern border with Sudan has come under renewed scrutiny after the military announced that two officers were killed in an operation targeting unauthorized gold prospecting.
The Egyptian armed forces said on Thursday that two border guard officers were killed during an operation against illegal gold mining along the country's southern frontier.
It said the campaign aimed to assert Egyptian sovereignty over its entire territory, stressing that civilians were not targeted and all strikes took place within Egyptian borders.
Military spokesperson Colonel Ahmed Othman identified the officers as Colonel Ahmed Samir, chief of staff of the Southern Region Border Guard Forces, and Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Gouda, operations chief of a border guard battalion.
Both were killed when troops exchanged fire with criminal elements, he told a news conference.
Three-phase crackdown on gold prospectors
Egypt's military launched three phases of operations between June and October to confront a surge in illegal gold prospecting along the Sudanese border, where miners known locally as "dahaba" have expanded their activities.
The campaign came under scrutiny after reports emerged from Sudan of a border bombing that left dozens dead and wounded.
Egyptian military and strategic experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that the miners posed serious risks to stability and national security, making a crackdown unavoidable.
They expected tighter border security measures, warning that illegal gold mining sites could potentially become "hubs of support for terrorist groups."
In videos released since the launch of Operation Southern Shield, the Egyptian military said illegal gold mining had grown into a far broader security threat.
"What began as an assault on state resources has evolved into organized criminal activity that threatens national security and fuels arms, drug and human smuggling," the military said.
One video described Egypt's southern regions as part of a mineral-rich belt where licensed mining operations are expanding.
But criminal networks, it said, have exploited the rugged mountainous terrain to establish illegal mining sites equipped with heavy machinery, four-wheel-drive vehicles and advanced communications systems.
The military said the groups included armed Egyptians and foreign nationals, some of whom had attacked military and police personnel and legally operating mining companies.
Those attacks prompted a sweeping security operation, backed by detailed intelligence, to dismantle the sites and eliminate the threats they posed, it added.
Sudan launches investigation
Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council said it had formed a fact-finding committee to investigate an incident involving Sudanese miners near the Egyptian border.
In a statement on Monday, the council said the committee included representatives of the Public Prosecution Office, judicial authorities and security agencies tasked with establishing the circumstances and facts surrounding the incident.
On the Egyptian side, military spokesperson Colonel Ahmed Othman said Monday that armed forces and civilian police personnel were pressing ahead with the third phase of a large-scale operation against illegal gold mining in the Eastern Desert.
The operation followed the dropping of warning leaflets aimed at criminal groups and sought to assert full Egyptian sovereignty while protecting the country's resources and national wealth, he said.
The crackdown began in June, when the military said it detected 58 cases of unauthorized gold prospecting and seized 20 metal detectors, 118 electricity generators and 86 tons of rocks containing gold ore.
Egyptian strategic expert Major General Samir Farag said securing the country's borders was essential to protecting the state and preserving its stability.
Sudan's instability, he told Asharq Al-Awsat, has complicated border security and created opportunities for criminal gangs to infiltrate Egyptian territory.
"Sudan's current instability has negatively affected border conditions and security," Farag said. "This has led to illegal movements by gangs crossing into Egypt to smuggle weapons and drugs and engage in unauthorized gold mining, leaving Egypt with no choice but to protect its borders."
Farag described the dahaba as trained gangs posing grave risks to national security.
"They create pockets of threats in southern Egypt that open the door to much wider dangers," he said.
To counter those risks, authorities have reinforced border guard posts and stepped up vehicle and mobile patrols, deploying modern equipment and satellite communications technology to prevent unauthorized crossings and illegal activities on Egyptian soil, he added.
Beyond gold: A national security threat
Egyptian military and strategic expert Major General Osama Kabeer said the illegal mining boom posed two major threats: one to national security and the other to the economy.
The first, he said, was the breach of Egypt's borders by armed groups bringing in unauthorized workers.
"What is happening is a confrontation with elements that have crossed the border illegally, before they are even considered gold prospectors," Kabeer told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He warned that illegal gold mining was intertwined with wider criminal networks involved in migrant smuggling, human trafficking and the trafficking of drugs, weapons and ammunition.
"These activities contribute to the spread of crime and terrorism inside the country," he said.
The second threat was economic, Kabeer said, warning that illegal prospecting endangered the country's mineral wealth, gold reserves, antiquities and other resources underpinning its economy.
Gold theft, the depletion of mineral deposits and the smuggling of natural resources made military and security operations necessary to uphold the law, he added.
Farag said the military and security agencies followed established legal procedures during their operations, including issuing the required warnings before taking decisive action against border breaches or attempts to flee after smuggling and sabotage offenses.
Kabeer said the armed forces and police were working in close coordination, carrying out carefully planned operations to enforce the law.
He expected the campaign to continue, with authorities moving firmly against offenders to protect Egypt's territorial, geographical and political borders.
But he said enforcement would also take humanitarian considerations into account, with authorities reviewing the cases of detainees, deporting those not implicated in criminal activities and pursuing strict judicial action against those directly involved in sabotage and smuggling.
