A UN peacekeeper from Tanzania was killed and seven others wounded when their patrol was ambushed by gunmen in the Central African Republic, UN officials said Monday.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said gunmen believed to be from the Siriri militia attacked the UN patrol on Sunday in the village of Dilapoko in southwest Mambere-Kadei prefecture.

One of the wounded peacekeepers is in critical condition at a Bangui hospital while three others were seriously wounded, he added.

Three other peacekeepers from the MINUSCA mission are being treated in the local town of Berberati.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack, which brings to four the number of peacekeepers killed in the Central African Republic this year.

MINUSCA has 12,000 troops and police deployed in the impoverished country, which has been struggling since it exploded into bloodshed after the 2013 overthrow of longtime leader Francois Bozize.

CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera governs with the support of the large UN peacekeeping operation, yet can only claim to control a fraction of the country.