EL-GENEINA, Sudan, (Reuters) – A plane operated by the African Union crashed in Sudan”s Darfur region killing two pilots, a Ukrainian and a Moldovan, the pan-African body said in a statement on Sunday.

The crash, the first such incident for the force of 6,000 peacekeepers in the region the size of France, happened on Saturday after the plane took off from Zalingei, a town in central Darfur, the AU added.

&#34The plane crashed near Zalingei airport and the two pilots were unfortunately killed,&#34 the AU said.

There were no other people on board the hired plane which had been used to transport personnel around Darfur.

A team of investigators will try to establish what caused the Antonov 28, which was heading to El-Fasher, to crash.

The AU sent peacekeepers to Darfur after rebels took up arms against the government in early 2003 to protest what they said was Khartoum”s marginalisation of the region.