NOUAKCHOTT: Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was "slightly wounded" after an army unit opened fire at his convoy on Saturday in what the government said was an accident.

Abdel Aziz will be flown Sunday to Paris for medical treatment after being wounded in what the government said was an accidental shooting on his convoy by an army unit, a security source told AFP.

“The president will be evacuated during the day to Paris for complementary care in France in a specialised hospital,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

The source said that an initial operation had been performed on Abdel Aziz at a military hospital in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott “to remove the bullet from his body,” the source said.

He did not specify where exactly Abdel Aziz was shot, saying only: “In any event, his life is not in danger, the vital organs were not affected.”Unconfirmed reports in Mauritanian media said that Abdel Aziz was shot in either the arm or the abdomen.

A security source had told AFP earlier that Abdel Aziz was hit in the arm by a bullet that an unknown gunman had fired at him as the president was returning to the capital from his weekend retreat.