Omar al-Bashir
Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir waves to supporters at the NCP Headquarters in Khartoum April 26, 2010. REUTERS

A UN peacekeeper has been killed in Sudan's Southern Darfur and two other have been injured near the capital of South Darfur state, the United Nations said in a statement. It came less than one month after three peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in North Darfur.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon expressed "heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the Government of Sierra Leone". The peacekeepers, belonging to the United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), were attacked near Nyala on Sunday as Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir was visiting a newly captured city in the country's south,

Ban "expects the government of Sudan will swiftly bring those responsible for this reprehensible act to justice," the statement said.

The attack was not immediately confirmed by Sudanese officials.

The UNAMID said last month that 33 peacekeepers had been killed in Darfur since 2007, when the force was set up in the African country in an attempt to stop the war between rebels and the Khartoum government.

It says that at least 300,000 people have died since the uprising started in 23003. The government puts the death toll at 10,000.

UNAMID is a joint African Union and United Nations peacekeeping mission formally approved by UN Security Council Resolution 1769 on July 31, 2007,to bring stability to the Sudanese region of Darfur while peace talks on a final settlement continue.

United Nations Sudan