Mauritian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was on Sunday recovering in hospital from a gunshot wound sustained when a military unit opened fire on his convoy, in what a government official said was an "accident", dpa reported.
Communications Minister Hamdi Ould Mahjoub said the president was shot in the arm in the shooting, the reasons behind which remained unclear, the official Mauritanian news agency reported.
The 55-year-old Abdel Aziz had been travelling to the capital Nouakchott at the time.
The former high-ranking officer came to power in a coup in 2008 and was elected president the following year.