UN Security Council members on Wednesday criticized Sudanese troops for shooting at a UN-African Union supply convoy in Darfur, the first such an attack since the joint force's deployment to try to end the ethnic conflict in that region.

Jean-Marie Guehenno, UN undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations, told a closed-door session of the 15-nation that a local Sudanese commander took responsibility for the shooting on Monday, which critically injured a driver of the convoy.

The UN said the convoy was attacked Monday night when it was traveling from Umm Baru to Tine in Western Darfur, an area where clashes between Sudanese government forces and rebel groups had taken place.

British Ambassador John Sawers told reporters that council members "unanimously condemned" the attack as they discussed "the obstruction and foot-dragging by the Sudanese government to the deployment of the UN-AU peacekeeping force to Darfur."

"It's quite unacceptable for them (Sudan) to reject the contingent of Nordic engineers, which has been agreed by the UN and AU," Sawers said.

"The rejection of the deployment of the Nordic engineers means that the deployment is further delayed and further held back," he said.

Sawers said Khartoum's obstruction to the UN-AU force, considered technical four months ago, has become of a "political nature."

Guehenno informed the council that no country has agreed to provide helicopters to held speed up the deployment. Currently there are less than 10,000 UN and African troops in Darfur, but the peacekeeping operation is authorized a ceiling of nearly 30,000 military and civilian personnel.

Most of the current UN-AU force in Darfur came from the 7,000- strong African force that had been in Darfur since 2005 for the same purpose of ensuring adherence to peace accords by Khartoum-backed Arab militias and Africa rebel groups.

Sudan's UN Ambassador Abdalmahmood Mohamad reacted to criticism by the UN, denying that his government was involved in the attack against the supply convoy. Sawers said Mohamad had no information about the attack on the ground in Darfur.

Mohamad said Guehenno has "the habit" of accusing Sudan of things it had not done.

"It's very regrettable," Mohamad said. "Sudan has cooperated with the deployment of the hybrid force in all aspects, from communications to providing lands for bases."