U.N. calls on Sudan to probe attack on peacekeepers

United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) troops from Zambia patrol the Abyei area in the wake of the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the borders of Abyei in this picture released on July 27, 2009 file photo.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Wednesday for the Sudanese government to investigate an attack on peacekeepers in Darfur, a U.N. spokeswoman said.

"The secretary-general calls on the government of Sudan to launch an immediate investigation into this incident and to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice," spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Pakistani peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region Tuesday, wounding seven, two of them seriously, in the latest in a string of attacks on the U.N./African Union force, or UNAMID, officials said.

The ambush of the unarmed police patrol near Nyala, capital of South Darfur, followed reports of a resurgence of fighting in Sudan's violent west that has forced thousands to flee, according to UNAMID.

Twenty-two UNAMID soldiers and police have been killed in ambushes, carjackings and other violent incidents since they took over from a beleaguered African Union force at the beginning of 2008.

The conflict in Darfur flared in 2003, when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Sudan's government, accusing it of neglecting the region. Estimates of the total death count range from 10,000 according to Khartoum, to 300,000 according to the United Nations.

(Reporting by Basil Katz; editing by Patrick Worsnip and Mohammad Zargham)