Mirella Degiuli, one of the five Italians who are part of a tour group that had been kidnapped in Egypt and taken on a 10-day dash across the Sahara to the frontier of Chad, is greeted by her two sons David, left, and Diego as she arrives in Turin, northern Italy, after being released, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008. (AP Photo / Massimo Pinca)

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Egyptian and Sudanese troops, backed by European commandos, swooped down in helicopters Monday to rescue a tour group that had been kidnapped in Egypt and taken on a 10-day dash across the Sahara to the frontier of Chad.

Freedom for the 11 European tourists and eight Egyptian guides came hours after Sudanese troops killed six of the abductors and captured two who revealed where the remaining gunmen were holding their captives.

The brother of one of the freed Egyptians said he was told that the kidnappers abandoned the captives in the desert and fled soon before the rescuers arrived.

Egyptian officials released no details of the rescue except to say troops used helicopters to bring out the prisoners.

‘‘They took everything from us and left us with nothing,’’ one freed Egyptian, Sherif Abdel-Monem, said of the kidnappers.