Egypt Works to Facilitate Return of its Citizens from Sudan

Shoukry participates in a meeting on the situation in Sudan. (Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry)
Shoukry participates in a meeting on the situation in Sudan. (Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry)
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Egypt Works to Facilitate Return of its Citizens from Sudan

Shoukry participates in a meeting on the situation in Sudan. (Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry)
Shoukry participates in a meeting on the situation in Sudan. (Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry)

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that the country’s mission office in Wadi Halfa was communicating with “the Sudanese authorities to facilitate the unimpeded return of Egyptian citizens through the Sudanese land crossings.”

The Ministry of Education has also contacted its educational mission in the country, whose staff accounts for around 151 teachers and administrators, to “check on their safety.”

A statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry stressed that the authorities were following up on the conditions of Egyptian citizens in Sudan, and “making every effort to ensure their safety.” It also published phone numbers to communicate with members of the country’s mission in the Sudanese city of Wadi Halfa.

The statement added: “The ministry continues, through its missions in Khartoum, Port Sudan and Wadi Halfa, to make all efforts and the necessary contacts to follow up on the conditions of the Egyptian community in Sudan during the crisis and to act quickly and effectively according to the developments.”

In turn, the Egyptian Minister of Education and Technical Education, Dr. Reda Hegazy, contacted on Friday Khaled Nasreddine, head of Egypt’s educational mission in Sudan, and a number of members of the mission, to convey his wishes on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, and to check on their conditions in light of the recent developments.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, underlined the need to give priority to preserving the Sudanese state institutions and preventing them from collapse.

In remarks on Thursday evening, Shoukry reiterated that it was not permissible to deal with the state’s official bodies and unofficial entities on equal footing.

The minister was speaking during a virtual ministerial meeting of the African Union on the situation in Sudan, with the participation of foreign ministers and senior officials of Sudan’s neighboring countries, Kenya, Djibouti, the permanent members of the Security Council, the African members of the Council, Norway and a number of Arab countries.

The meeting was also attended by the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in the European Union, and the Executive Secretary of IGAD.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid said the meeting aimed at joining efforts to make a collective move that aims to end the military confrontations in Sudan.



Assad Loyalists Kill at Least 13 Police Officers in Ambush on Syrian Forces in Coastal Town

Vehicles of members of Syria's new authorities security forces block a road in al-Sanamayn, in the southern province of Daraa, during a reported large scale military campaign on March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Vehicles of members of Syria's new authorities security forces block a road in al-Sanamayn, in the southern province of Daraa, during a reported large scale military campaign on March 5, 2025. (AFP)
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Assad Loyalists Kill at Least 13 Police Officers in Ambush on Syrian Forces in Coastal Town

Vehicles of members of Syria's new authorities security forces block a road in al-Sanamayn, in the southern province of Daraa, during a reported large scale military campaign on March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Vehicles of members of Syria's new authorities security forces block a road in al-Sanamayn, in the southern province of Daraa, during a reported large scale military campaign on March 5, 2025. (AFP)

Gunmen ambushed a Syrian police patrol in a coastal town Thursday, leaving at least 13 security members dead and many others wounded, a monitoring group and a local official said.

The attack came amid tensions in Syria’s coastal region between former President Bashar Assad’s minority Alawite sect and members of armed groups. Assad was overthrown in early December in an offensive of opposition factions led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the ambush in the town of Jableh, near the city of Latakia, killed at least 16. Rami Abdurrahman, head of the monitoring group, said the gunmen who ambushed the police force are Alawites.

“These are the worst clashes since the fall of the regime,” Abdurrahman said.

A local official in Damascus told The Associated Press that 13 members of the General Security directorate were killed in the ambush. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release security information to the media.

Conflicting casualties figures are not uncommon in the immediate aftermath of attacks in Syria’s 13-year conflict that has killed half a million people.

The pan Arab Al-Jazeera TV broadcaster said its cameraman Riad al-Hussein was wounded while covering the clashes.

The SANA state-news agency reported that large reinforcements were being sent to the coastal region to get the situation under control.

The Syrian Observatory said helicopter gunships took part in attacking Alawite gunmen and Jableh and nearby areas. It added that fighters loyal to former Syrian army Gen. Suheil al-Hassan, also known as Tiger, took part in the attacks against security forces.

Tensions have been on the rise in Syria with reports of attacks by militants against Alawites who had led the rule in Syria for more than five decades under the Assad family.