Sudan ? Sudanese soldiers shot at a convoy of U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur, critically wounding a local driver and wrecking a fuel tanker barely a week into the force’s new mission in the region, U.N. officials said Tuesday.

The attack was the latest challenge for the U.N. force, which has been heralded by the international community as having the best chance to quell five years of violence in Darfur but took the field with only a fraction of the anticipated troops.

The United Nations condemned the attack, which occurred late Monday, and said it had protested to the Sudanese government that “a clearly marked (U.N.) supplies convoy was attacked by elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces while on its way from Um Baru to Tine in West Darfur.”

A Sudanese working as a driver was hit by seven bullets, a tanker truck was destroyed and an armored personnel carrier was damaged, the U.N. said. The South African peacekeepers protecting the convoy did not return fire, and U.N. troops suffered no casualties, officials said.