African Union attacked, seven killed in Darfur

By Opheera McDoom

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Armed men attacked an African Union base in southern Darfur killing at least seven soldiers and injuring eight others in the worst attack on the African troops since they deployed in 2004, sources said on Sunday.

Sudan's army and Darfur rebel movements blamed each other for the Saturday night attack on the Haskanita base.

"It is the heaviest casualties which we have ever witnessed since the inception of this mission," said AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni. "There is a feeling of shock."

An army spokesman said: "Some of the rebels attacked the AU in Haskanita. They killed seven and eight were injured."

The spokesman said as many as 40 AU soldiers were thought to be missing, although those figures could not be confirmed.

But the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) commander in the region, Abdel Aziz el-Nur Ashr, told Reuters they had moved their troops out of Haskanita four days earlier for other operations and blamed the government.

"There was an aggression from Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) from three directions on Haskanita and that attack was from the SAF," Ashr said. "We don't have troops there."

Haskanita, in the far southeast of Darfur, has seen government bombardment and heavy fighting between the army, militias and rebels.