Sudan: Attack on Pakistani peacekeepers, 7 injured

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Pakistani peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region, injuring seven, two of them seriously, in the latest in a string of attacks on the force, officials said.The ambush came just hours after the joint UN/African Union UNAMID mission took delivery of its first five military helicopters, ending a wait of more than two years for air support in Sudan's rebellious west. The attackers shot at an armed UNAMID police patrol near Nyala, capital of South Darfur, escaping with two police vehicles, UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni told. It was an ambush this afternoon. Two of the seven were critically wounded, this is very serious. We are a peacekeeping mission but we do not have a comprehensive peace to keep, he said. A total of 22 UNAMID soldiers and police have died in ambushes, carjackings and other violent incidents since they took over from a beleaguered African Union force at the beginning of 2008. A UN official said the injured men came from Pakistan.