Forces from the Sudanese rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), have assisted in liberating 38 African Union (AU) personnel that were taken hostage on October 9. The kidnapped–which consisted of the original 18 hostages, and later a 20-man rescue team–were released on October 10. Initially, two hostages remained but were freed following a reported shootout with the kidnappers. A splinter group of JEM was blamed for the attack, but Mohamed Saleh, the head of the dissident faction, has denied the allegations.