Unrest in Sudan: Egyptian military claims RSF-captured soldiers have returned home

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured some Egyptian troops last week, but the Egyptian army reported Thursday that three flights carrying those soldiers had arrived back in Cairo from Sudan.

The declaration supported a previous claim by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) that 177 Egyptian Air Force personnel had been flown back to Egypt.

The army added that additional Egyptian troops still in Sudan had, with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), arrived at Egypt's embassy in Khartoum.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Sudan had earlier claimed to have turned over to the Red Cross on Thursday morning 27 Egyptian soldiers that were in its care. 

Since Saturday, there has been fierce fighting between the Sudanese army and the RSF throughout Sudan, including in the capital Khartoum. On Wednesday, two new attempts at a ceasefire failed.

After the soldiers stormed the Merowe airbase in northern Sudan, where they were allegedly taking part in joint military drills between Sudan and Egypt, the RSF detained them over the weekend.

The RSF statement said the ICRC had been involved in the process of the Egyptian soldiers' release but gave no further information on the circumstances surrounding their detention or handover.

The swap has not yet been confirmed by the ICRC.

On Saturday, the RSF made a video that it claimed showed several Egyptian soldiers who had "surrendered" to its forces when it stormed the Merowe airport amid the ongoing fighting.

The video showed several men sitting on the ground and conversing with RSF members in an Egyptian Arabic dialect while dressed in military-style clothing. 

The RSF claimed on Wednesday that it had transported the captured soldiers to Khartoum.

In a video released on Saturday, the paramilitary group also claimed to have taken control of the vital Merowe air base, which is situated about 186 miles north of Khartoum. Several Egyptian MiG-29M/M2 Fulcrum fighter jets were visible in the footage, and they participated in joint Sudanese-Egyptian drills in 2020. 

Although the Egyptian army's official spokesman claimed the troops were in Sudan for military drills, there was no explanation for why they were not evacuated after fighting broke out between rival armed forces in Sudan.

Additionally, following the conclusion of the most recent joint exercises announced last month, there had been no official announcement regarding the presence of Egyptian troops in Sudan.

Mahmoud Gamal, an expert on Egyptian military affairs, disproved the assertion that the presence of Egyptian forces at the airbase was related to joint military drills. 

Gamal told Middle East Eye, "The videos appear to depict a military battalion."

Military drills—whether conducted on land, in the air, or at sea—are specific. However, the officers detained by the RSF come from a variety of army divisions, including the infantry and air defense forces. 

The troops were in Sudan to train with their Sudanese counterparts, according to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who also claimed that they were not supporting any combatants. To ensure the safety of the troops, Sisi has stated that he is in contact with the RSF. 

According to statistics released by Tedros Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation of the United Nations, the fighting between RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces has so far resulted in at least 270 fatalities and more than 2,600 injuries since fighting started on Saturday.