KHARTOUM, Sudan, April 6 (UPI) -- Armed insurgents kidnapped and killed a U.N. peacekeeper serving in the African Union mission in Darfur, officials announced.
Armed fighters ambushed a joint U.N.-AU patrol in Darfur and kidnapped three members of the peacekeeping missions.
The patrol killed one of the attackers but not before a UNAMID vehicle was hijacked. Two peacekeepers were released but the other was found dead near the town of Kutum.
UNAMID has more than 17,000 peacekeepers supporting its mandate in the war-torn Sudanese state.
Officials in South Darfur complained recently that French aid groups were sharing intelligence with the Sudan Liberation Movement and accused troops loyal to the government in Khartoum of sexual assault.
International rights groups expressed concern that the South Sudan referendum in January, part of a 2005 peace agreement, was overshadowing ongoing conflict in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that peace talks between Sudanese officials and rebel groups in Darfur were ongoing but needed international support to succeed.
