Sudan on Sunday condemned the aggression against a patrol of the United Nations- African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in South Darfur State, a day after seven peacekeepers were killed and 17 others injured in an attack by unidentified assailants.

"The Sudanese government condemns, in the strongest possible terms, this aggressions as it represents a desperate attempt to abort the noble task of the joint mission and undermine the peace process in Darfur," said Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

The statement expressed Sudan's sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the "heinous" aggression against UNAMID personnel.

Khartoum also accused the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)/ Minnawi faction of attacking the peacekeepers and held it responsible for the death of the mission personnel, according to the statement.

It noted that Minnawi movement and its allies in the so-called the Revolutionary Front constitute the biggest threat to the peace in the region.

On Saturday, UNAMID announced that seven of its peacekeepers were killed and 17 others injured in an attack by unidentified assailants against a mission patrol in Darfur State.

"A joint patrol of the UNAMID was ambushed in South Darfur," said the mission in a press release, a copy of which was obtained by Xinhua.

Around 24,000 UNAMID soldiers are shouldering the task of peacekeeping in the Darfur region which has been suffering from a civil war since 2003.

Since its deployment in early 2008, the mission has lost more than 40 of its personnel in attacks by unidentified gunmen in the region.