Two U.N. peacekeepers killed in Darfur

Two United Nations peacekeepers and a police officer were killed in an ambush in a camp for displaced people in Sudan’s Darfur region according to a U.N. representative.

The two peacekeepers were armed; the police officer was not, said Kemal Saiki, a spokesman for the joint U.N. and African Union mission in the troubled region. Another five people were injured in the incident, three seriously.

They came under attack in North Darfur while the security unit was on patrol in the camp at about 11 p.m. Monday, Saiki said. One of the assailants was also killed.

It was unclear why the attack occurred.

The joint peacekeeping mission in Darfur is the world’s largest at 20,000 authorized troops. Since it began in 2008, 33 peacekeepers have been killed.

Darfur is among the most dangerous areas of operation for U.N. personnel.

At least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million others driven from their homes as a result of fighting between Sudanese rebel groups and the Khartoum government and its allied armed militia.