The Egyptian army has been accused of expanding its incursion into eastern Sudan, occupying new areas after expelling Sudanese artisanal gold miners from land where they had been working peacefully.
The reported advance follows a series of Egyptian airstrikes targeting mining areas in the region, which local sources say killed hundreds of civilians and wounded many others. The de facto military-led authorities in Port Sudan have remained silent over the alleged attacks and ground incursion, fueling growing anger among Sudanese political forces and civil society groups.
Miners from the North Valley region said Egyptian forces deployed additional ground troops, backed by armored and combat vehicles, before seizing more Sudanese territory and forcing miners to leave the area.
According to the miners, hundreds of workers have been missing since last Tuesday following intense airstrikes on Jebel Ayqad, Jebel al-Ahmar, Al-Ansari and several nearby mining sites.
The alleged attacks have drawn condemnation from a broad range of Sudanese political actors, including the Sudan Founding Alliance, known as TASIS, the Democratic Bloc, the Sudanese Communist Party, the Sudanese Congress Party and the National Umma Party.
Several of the parties described the strikes as a direct assault on Sudanese sovereignty and a massacre against civilians engaged in traditional mining inside Sudanese territory. They called for an independent investigation, accountability for those responsible and urgent action to protect civilians in border areas.
The Sudanese Congress Party condemned what it called a “heinous massacre” against civilians, while the National Umma Party described the incident as a dangerous military escalation on Sudanese territory and demanded a transparent international investigation.
Rights groups also joined the criticism. The Sudanese Alliance for Rights condemned the drone strikes and artillery bombardment that targeted artisanal miners in the Al-Ansari and Al-Uqaydat areas of River Nile State, warning that attacks on civilian communities and livelihood sites deepen Sudan’s humanitarian crisis.
The condemnations have placed further pressure on the Port Sudan junta, which has yet to offer a clear public response despite accusations that foreign forces have bombed Sudanese civilians and occupied new territory.
The silence has raised sharp questions over the military-led government’s ability or willingness to defend Sudan’s borders, particularly as civilians continue to pay the price of foreign interference and the country’s widening war.
