Sudan: Seven Egyptian ‘hostages’ detained by RSF for more than a year
Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been holding seven Egyptian civilians captive for more than 16 months without any effort by Cairo to secure their release, Middle East Eye can reveal.
The commander of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemeti), earlier this month accused Egypt of taking part in air strikes against his forces near the capital Khartoum, supporting the Sudanese armed forces in their conflict with the RSF. But Cairo has denied the claims.
The group announced two days later that it was holding Egyptian "mercenaries" captive, without identifying them or revealing their whereabouts.
According to family members of Egyptian captives, RSF officials and Sudanese sources, there are seven Egyptian civilians held as "hostages" in RSF custody in an undisclosed location.
According to IDs of the detained Egyptians, their names are as follows: Ahmed Aziz Masri Abdel Qader (43), Emad Mohamed Moawad Hussein (44), Majed Mohamed Moawad Hussein (35), Mohamed Shaaban Ali Mohamed (42), Abdel Qader Ajami Abdel Aziz (55), Ali Taha Abdel Karim Ahmed, and Farag Allam.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
All the captives hail from the village of Abu Shanab, in Ibshaway Centre, Fayoum governorate.
“I want to see my son before I die,” the mother of Emad, one of the captives, told MEE. “I appeal to the Egyptian president to intervene. His children cry every day, and our lives have come to a standstill.”
The Egyptians moved to Sudan many years ago and were working in the household appliance trade since 2009, Mohamed Aziz, the brother of one of the captives, told MEE.
On 18 June 2023, two months after the RSF began its war with Sudan's army, the RSF stormed a residential building in the Lamab Nasser neighbourhood, southwest of Khartoum, and detained the seven Egyptians, Aziz said.
The following day, the RSF raided a home appliance warehouse owned by the seven Egyptians, seizing goods worth more than $100,000, he told MEE.
'I want to see my son before I die'
- Mother of Egyptian captive
“I had been living with them until four days before their detention, when I left for Egypt to visit my family,” said Aziz.
During the raid on their home, the RSF looted its contents and confiscated their personal belongings, including money and identification papers, before transferring them to an undisclosed location.
“We contacted the Egyptian consulate in Sudan shortly after they were detained. The consul reassured us that the foreign ministry was aware of the situation and was following up closely,” said Aziz. However, he added that promises of action have so far yielded nothing.
“We’ve gone to the foreign ministry in Egypt three times, most recently two months ago after the ministry relocated to the New Administrative Capital. As usual, we received no response,” lamented another relative of the detainees.
Letters to family
Since the start of the war between Sudanese forces led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF, the RSF has managed to secure significant territorial gains in Khartoum, including the neighbourhood where the Egyptian captives are believed to be held.
Photos and videos shared with MEE showed the captives in poor physical condition, appearing significantly thinner. Hussein, the brother of one of the detainees, confirmed the drastic change in their appearance, recalling how they looked before he left Sudan.
The families of the detainees have been subjected to blackmail, with the RSF demanding large sums of money in exchange for updates on their relatives’ well-being, said Mustafa, a relative of one of the detainees.*
MEE has also obtained handwritten letters from the captives, which the RSF permitted them to send to their families in Egypt.
The letters, written in September and August, offer reassurances about their health and well-being, while expressing hope that their release is near. However, the families remain in the dark as to when this might happen, as the RSF continues to hold them without explanation.
The families, desperate for alternative solutions, approached the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Khartoum, which promised to intervene and contact Sudanese authorities. Despite repeated assurances, the families have received no substantial updates.
The hostages’ families also submitted a letter to the Egyptian foreign ministry, providing full details of their relatives’ detentions. Despite waiting for months, they have yet to receive a reply.
MEE has approached the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ICRC for comment.
According to two RSF security sources who spoke to MEE on the condition of anonymity, the seven Egyptians were initially detained at the administrative headquarters of the Arab Open University in the Riyadh neighbourhood of Khartoum. Four months ago, they were moved to another location within the same area, though the exact details remain unclear.
Mohammed*, a Sudanese national who was released by the RSF a few months ago after being detained alongside the seven Egyptians, told MEE that they were transferred to the Arab Open University from their residence in Lamab Nasser.
“The detention conditions are terrible,” said Mohammed, adding that the RSF controls large areas of the Riyadh neighbourhood and uses residential buildings as detention centres.
Tensions with Egypt
Middle East Eye has previously reported about Egyptian military support for the Sudanese armed forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country's de facto head of state. But Egypt has publicly claimed neutrality in the conflict.
In the early days of the war in April 2023, RSF forces detained Egyptian soldiers and officers at Merowe military base, following reported joint exercises with the Sudanese army. Egypt's armed forces have yet to confirm the fate of the soldiers.
Last week saw a pivotal moment in the ongoing war between the Sudanese army and the RSF, following a fierce battle at Jebel Moya in Sudan’s Sennar State. The Sudanese army reclaimed the city after a series of air strikes.
On 11 October, Hemeti appeared in a recorded address following his forces’ retreat from the city, claiming that the Egyptian army had intervened in the battle, with Egyptian aircraft conducting air strikes against RSF positions in Jebel Moya. These strikes, he said, had led to the RSF’s defeat and allowed the Sudanese army to regain control of the area.
Hemeti’s remarks signalled an unprecedented escalation in tensions with Egypt. He claimed the RSF had remained silent for some time regarding Egypt's involvement, hoping it would pull back. However, Egypt's continued interference had, according to him, crossed a line.
Shortly after Hemeti’s address, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong denial. “We refute the allegations made by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Militia, regarding Egyptian air involvement in Sudan’s battles,” the statement read. It reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to the stability, security, and unity of Sudan.
Two days later, the RSF released another statement via its official X account, now suspended, issuing a stern warning to Egypt over its support for the Sudanese army.
For the first time, the RSF revealed that it was holding Egyptian prisoners, suggesting they had fought alongside Sudanese forces.
The RSF alleged in their statement that these detainees were “Egyptian mercenaries”.
On 12 October, Omran Abdullah, a senior adviser to Hemeti, said in an interview that the RSF was detaining Egyptian nationals, but declined to clarify whether they were civilians or combatants.
Despite these claims, the Egyptian government has yet to comment officially on the alleged detention of Egyptians.
Hemeti's RSF has been at war with the Sudanese army since April 2023, in a conflict that has displaced more than 10 million people and caused a devastating humanitarian crisis.
The two sides are currently vying for control of the capital Khartoum.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes during the conflict, with the RSF facing accusations of rape, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
*Names changed for security reasons.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
