Egypt and Sudan Investigate Fatal Shooting of Egyptian Truck Drivers in Khartoum

Two Egyptian truck drivers were killed, and a third was wounded in Khartoum, Sudan, after a gunman opened fire on them, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Monday, 12 October. 

Sudanese police said the suspect had been arrested and had confessed, telling investigators he acted to avenge his brother, who died in an alleged airstrike on Saturday, 10 October, along the border of Egypt and Sudan.

Police identified the suspect as Ibrahim Abdullah Adam, 23. A Sudanese police officer was also wounded in an exchange of fire before the arrest, they said. 

“The investigation is continuing to establish the circumstances of the incident and its motives,” police said in a statement late Monday.

Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, instructed the Egyptian ambassador, Yasser Sorour, to contact Sudanese authorities and check on the wounded driver. He also ordered steps to return the bodies to Egypt as soon as possible. Sorour met with the governor of Khartoum, who traveled to offer condolences, and doctors told the ambassador that the wounded man needed urgent surgery, the ministry said.

Abdelatty also spoke by phone Monday evening with Sudan’s foreign minister, Mohieldin Salem, of the military-backed government. The two stressed “the mutual respect that binds the two nations,” including respect for each other’s sovereignty and borders.

Airstrike Allegations

Earlier this month, an airstrike killed dozens of Sudanese gold miners, according to Sudanese rights groups, which gave death tolls ranging from 13 to 72.  Neither Egypt nor Sudan has said who carried it out, and there has been no confirmation of responsibility or official verification of the incident. 

Egypt’s military said separately that it was continuing to combat “illegal” gold prospecting in the Eastern Desert.

Earlier this year, an Egyptian brigadier general in the border force and another member of the Egyptian border forces were killed by criminal groups associated with gold prospecting in the area.

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have turned to gold prospecting in the country’s north as the civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023, has battered the economy.

Much of this activity is reportedly taking place on Egyptian territory, with Egypt’s security forces attempting to control the situation.