One soldier of the hybrid forces of the United Nations and African Union in Darfur (UNAMIS) was killed in ambush in South Darfur State, a UNAMIS source told Xinhua.

Five Nigerian soldiers driving a pickup were ambushed by a group of unknown armed man at 13:30 pm (10:30GMT) near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State, the source said.

One soldier, who was seriously injured in the attack, died after being hospitalized at Fashir, the capital of North Darfur State, where the headquarters of the UNAMIS locates.

The attackers, of whom the UNAMIS source put the number at eight, divided themselves into two teams hiding along a road on the outskirts of Nyala and launched the ambush.

This was the first deadly attack on the UNAMIS troops since an apparent escalation has been witnessed in the restive western Sudanese region of Darfur after the Interactional Criminal Court ( ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on March 4.

The Sudanese government had warned of a security disaster in Darfur in case that the arrest warrant was issued, which was the first against an incumbent head of state since the ICC was established in July, 2002.

Five aid workers including three foreigners and two Sudanese were kidnapped by local militants calling themselves as "the eagles of al-ashir" on Wednesday.

The three foreign hostages were released three days later following negotiations conducted by local government officials with them without paying a ransom, while the two Sudanese were freed on the same day when they were kidnapped.

The UN had originally planned to deploy a 26,000-strong UNAMIS in Darfur, including 20,000 soldiers and 6,000 policemen.

But until now there are only about 10,000 soldiers and policemen deployed there due to a lack of logistic supports and security guaranties.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2009)