One member of the joint United Nations/African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur has been confirmed killed in an attack and six are missing, a spokeswoman for the mission said.

"One person has been confirmed dead from the UN police, around 19 people wounded, and at least three are in a critical condition," the spokeswoman told Reuters.

Sudan's state news agency SUNA had earlier reported that five soldiers from the peacekeeping force were killed in an attack in the western Sudanese region and 17 others were missing.

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