South African soldier killed in Sudan's Darfur region

JOHANNESBURG – The South African army says a soldier was killed during an ambush on food aid trucks in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.

The South African National Defense Force said in a statement hursday the South African battalion was providing routine protection for the World Food Program's trucks when the convoy came under fire. Another South African soldier was injured in the attack in northern Darfur on Wednesday evening. The soldiers managed to protect the trucks.

Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Xolani Mabanga said it is not yet known who was behind the ambush.

Last month, South Africa's president ordered the withdrawal of the country's troops from the joint United Nations African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur by April 1.

The United Nations says 300,000 people have died in the Darfur conflict since 2003.