Darfur attack kills 7 peacekeepers

Seven members of a joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping patrol have been killed by a heavily armed militia group in Sudan's Darfur region, the UN said.

Five of those killed were Rwandan, a UN peacekeeping official said, and the other two were a Ugandan and a Ghanaian.

Twenty-two others were wounded in the attack, which was immediately condemned by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"The attackers used heavy weapons and engaged the UN convoy in an exchange of fire for more than two hours," according to a media statement.