Three flights of Egyptian troops return home from Sudan as fighting continues

The Egyptian army said in a statement on Thursday that three flights carrying its troops had arrived at a Cairo airbase from Sudan on Wednesday. 

The statement added that those troops remaining in Sudan had reached the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Egyptian troops had been in Sudan to take part in training exercises, but the armed forces decided to evacuate them based on the current violence in Sudan. 

First batch of the Egyptian military personnel who were in Sudan returned back to Cairo today. pic.twitter.com/Lkvt93LNDM

— Mahmoud Gamal (@mahmouedgamal44) April 19, 2023

"In light of the current events taking place on Sudanese lands and in the frame of the efforts of the Egyptian armed forces and the strong cooperation between all of the security services in Egypt and Sudan to secure the return of the Egyptian forces participating in joint training with the Sudanese Forces," the Egyptian armed forces said in a statement. 

"The armed forces confirm the health and safety of all the Egyptian armed forces members who have reached the homeland and likewise those who are currently in the Egyptian Embassy in Khartoum.

The Egyptian army appears to confirm an earlier statement by the Sudanese Armed Forces on the return of the soldiers from Sudan.

It is not clear if troops held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - one of the two Sudanese parties currently involved in fighting - were among those who had returned home.

Sudan's paramilitary RSF, who are fighting the Egyptian-backed army, said earlier on Thursday that it had handed over 27 detained Egyptian soldiers to the Red Cross. 

While Egypt has not directly involved itself in the fighting, Cairo has strong ties to the Sudanese military. Sudanese General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan trained with Egyptian generals in the past, and the two forces have regularly conducted exercises together.

Their adversaries in the current fighting, the RSF, reportedly have close links to the UAE and Saudi Arabia.