Egypt Armed Forces Report Four-Month Illegal Gold Mining Crackdown in Eastern Desert, Phase Four Next

Egypt’s Armed Forces said on 5 November 2026 that a four-month campaign against illegal gold mining in the Eastern Desert — run with law-enforcement partners from mid-June through late October — will enter a fourth phase on Saturday, 7 November. Military spokesperson Col. Ahmed Etman presented the results at a press conference at the Strategic Command’s Military Media Centre, framing the operations as protection of national security, territory and natural resources.

Arabic and English readouts of the briefing, including The Egyptian Gazette and detailed Arabic coverage by Al-Watan and El Balad, align on the campaign window (14 June–29 October 2026), the phase map, the arrest and seizure tallies Egypt claims, and the Phase Four start date. Egypt’s State Information Service also carried an English note on the same briefing.

Three completed phases, a fourth to start 7 November

According to Etman, as reported by The Egyptian Gazette and Arabic outlets:

• Phase 1 (14–30 June): west of Marsa Alam — more than 350 km from the southern border, two company concession sites totalling about 1,825 km² — and Jebel / Jabal Iqat north of latitude 22°, which Egypt says lies inside its borders (about 528 km², one company site under mining-code rules).
• Phase 2 (31 July–18 August): Wadi Dabur / Dabour (about 200 km²) and Barramiya / Al-Baramiya (about 2,300 km² across five mining concession sites).
• Phase 3 (12–29 October): a re-sweep of earlier areas to stop illegal activity returning and to prepare licensed operators to resume work.
• Phase 4: announced to begin Saturday, 7 November 2026, and to continue until objectives are met.

Etman said leaflets and warnings preceded each phase, tribal sheikhs were briefed, and ministries including Interior, Justice, Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Supply, and Foreign Affairs were coordinated. Cleared ground, he said, is being handed to licensed concession companies, while the Petroleum Ministry is reviewing some mining contracts and the use of licensed security firms.

Arrests, surrenders and seizures Egypt claims

For the three completed phases, Etman reported 151 Egyptians and 540 foreigners arrested (691 people in total) and 6,614 people who surrendered at pre-set checkpoints before operations. Seizures cited in the briefings include 34 firearms of various types, 6,307 rounds of ammunition, 317 vehicles, 19 motorcycles, 916 engineering machines, 73 metal detectors, 433 generators, 335 rock-breaking Hilti tools, satellite phones and other communications gear, fuel and water caches, 4,488 tents and shelters, 29 chemical packages, 15 cyanide leaching basins, and about 860 tonnes of gold-bearing quarry material, plus foreign IDs and cash. Those figures are the Egyptian military’s own tally; independent on-site verification is not available.

Two Egyptian officers were killed in an armed clash with criminal elements during the southern-border security effort, Etman said: Col. Ahmed Samir, chief of staff of the Southern Military Region Border Guard, and Lt. Col. Ahmed Gouda, operations chief of a Border Guard battalion.

Border claims, Halayeb context and Egypt–Sudan messaging

Etman insisted that all operations against illegal gold mining are inside Egyptian borders, that Egypt and Sudan exchange border-security information, and that Egypt–Sudan relations should not be damaged by rumours. That is the official Egyptian position.

The Halayeb / Hala’ib Triangle remains claimed by both Egypt and Sudan and is controlled by Egypt. Independent reporting on a deadly October 2026 strike near Jabal al-Uqaydat / Halayeb — covered earlier by Defence Mena with Sudanese-source and survivor accounts, and by AFP, The Guardian and France 24 using satellite and witness material — placed violence in that disputed claim zone. Death-toll figures vary by source and should be treated as contested claims; Egypt did not explicitly acknowledge that October strike in the 5 November mining briefing. Readers should keep both the official “inside Egyptian borders” line and the disputed-status context in view; Defence Mena’s prior file is here: Jabal al-Uqaydat gold-mine strike.

Bottom line: Cairo has published a detailed, self-reported scorecard for a multi-phase Eastern Desert anti-illegal-mining campaign and scheduled Phase Four for 7 November. The arrest, surrender and seizure numbers, the Jebel Iqat location claim, and the border framing are Egyptian official statements; contested Halayeb geography and the separate October strike file sit beside — not inside — that briefing.

Sources

• SIS.gov.eg, military spokesperson note on the illegal gold-mining campaign, 5 November 2026
• The Egyptian Gazette, English readout of Col. Ahmed Etman’s briefing, 5 November 2026
• El Balad and Al-Watan, Arabic conference readouts, 5 November 2026
• Defence Mena: Jabal al-Uqaydat / Halayeb strike file (post 4722)