The condition and whereabouts of a top EU official shot in Sudan were still unclear on April 19 amid continuing fighting in Khartoum.
His injuries were said to be severe but not life threatening though the European Commission refused to say where he was or give details of the injury or the circumstances of the shooting.
Wim Fransen, the head of the Commission humanitarian mission in Sudan, was reported to have gone missing over two days before colleagues found him in the capital, injured, according to the New York Times.
A Commission spokesperson on April 19 said the executive was at this point not planning to evacuate other staff EC at the office in Khartoum.
“The safety of the staff of our humanitarian aid office in Khartoum is a top priority. Nobody of the European Union humanitarian staff is missing in Sudan. We are in contact with all of them and are doing everything we can to ensure their physical well-being and safety in these extremely difficult circumstances,” the EC said.
Fransen has been in the country for almost four years, as head of mission. He has had multiple postings across Africa and Europe and Asia. He previously worked for the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, according to his LinkedIn page.
The attack comes amid growing chaos and violence in the African country .
Fransen went missing on Sunday evening when the fighting in Khartoum intensified. He was found on Monday with serious injuries by colleagues after a search.
The European Union’s ambassador to Sudan, Aidan O’Hara and a diplomatic convoy from the US were also assaulted, but suffered no injuries. On Saturday, three of the UN World Food Programme’s staff were killed and two others injured in Darfur.
