The Spanish aid worker who was seriously injured after being shot by thieves near the town of Abeche in the east of Chad near the border with war-torn Darfur yesterday, has been identified as Silvia Gaya (37) from Barcelona.

Ms Gaya (archive photo, 2003), who was shot at close range by a gang of bandits who wanted to steal her jeep, has been transferred to Paris after undergoing emergency surgery at a hospital in Yamena (Chad). The bullet entered through her back and exited through her shoulder. Surgeons are hopeful that she will not need to lose her arm.

A spokesman for the UN in Geneva, Damien Personnaz, said yesterday that the motive for the attack was almost certainly robbery, and ruled out that aid workers were being specifically targeted.

There are currently twelve Spanish aid volunteers (UNICEF, Oxfam and World Doctors) in the country and nearly a hundred missionaries, some of whom are working in very remote area without means of communication.

Mr Personnaz stressed that this incident, which is the first of its type in the west of the country, highlights the obligation of local authorities to provide adequate security for international aid volunteers.