A Chinese engineer was killed and another wounded last week when a group of armed men attacked an oil field in South Kordofan province in southern Sudan, a diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Khartoum confirmed to Xinhua Monday.

The assailants opened fire at workers in the oil field belonging to a Chinese oil company late Wednesday night, killing a Chinese engineer and wounding another, said the diplomat who asked not to be named.

The specific identity of the two Chinese victims is not immediately known, the diplomat said, adding that given the information available to the moment, he believed the attack is an isolated incident.

He said local police has launched an investigation into the incident and the identity of the gunmen remains unknown.