Peacekeepers ambushed in Darfur

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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council said it condemned an attack on a peacekeeping mission in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, which left one soldier dead.

The Security Council "condemned in the strongest terms" an attack by unknown gunmen on the African Union-U.N. Mission in Darfur. The ambush left one South African member of the patrol dead and three others injured.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement issued through his spokesman, called on the government to conduct a full investigation into the attack to ensure those responsible were brought to justice.

The attack in Darfur comes as leaders in Khartoum ratified a measure reached in Ethiopia last month that settles some of the issues left over from the 2005 peace deal that ended Sudan's civil war.

South Sudan last year gained independence as part of the peace agreement, though border issues and conflict have threatened the initiative.

The September deal calls for a resumption of South Sudanese oil exports and advocates a demilitarized zone along the border. That status of the disputed border territory of Abyei remains unsettled, however.

"The secretary-general urges both countries to now embark on the implementation of all the agreements they have signed and proceed immediately with the operationalization of their joint border verification and monitoring mechanism," Ban's spokesman said in a statement.