The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asked judges Thursday to issue arrest warrants for three rebel commanders over a deadly attack on African peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region in 2007.

"I will not let such attacks go unpunished," said Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the incident, in which 12 African peacekeepers were killed and eight wounded.

Moreno-Ocampo made the comments in a statement issued after he presented his case to judges of the ICC in The Hague.

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that these rebel commanders bear criminal responsibility ... for murder, intentionally directing attacks against personnel and objects involved in a peacekeeping mission and pillaging."

Moreno-Ocampo is seeking warrants for an attack, blamed on rebel groups, on African Union (AMIS) peacekeepers in Haskanita, southern Darfur, on September 29, 2007.

It claimed the lives of seven peacekeepers from Nigeria, and one each from Senegal, Mali and Botswana. The identities of two others were never released.

"The individuals against whom the arrest warrants are sought were commanders of rebel groups in Darfur that carried out the attack," said Moreno-Ocampo.

"As commanders, they planned and directed the attack. They commanded forces of around 1,000 men in a convoy of approximately 30 vehicles mounted with heavy weapons to attack AMIS peacekeepers."

The prosecutor would not divulge the names of the rebel leaders or that of their militia groups.

"This is confidential information, because we assess that the best way to ensure they appear before the court is to keep their names confidential for a while," he told AFP.

"Many rebel leaders have said that if the court calls them they will appear. While the judges decide on the warrants, they now have the chance to appear on their own accord. They know who they are."

This is the prosecutor's third Darfur case, but his first against rebel groups.

He had presented the court with "very strong evidence", but had no indication of when a decision might be taken, he said, adding: "It is now in the hands of the judges."

In May 2007, the ICC issued warrants against Sudan's former interior minister Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb, a leader of the government-backed Janjaweed militia, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's troubled western Darfur region.

In July of this year, Moreno-Ocampo asked the court to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur.

A panel of judges is reviewing the evidence to determine whether there are reasonable grounds to proceed with the case, which Beshir has shrugged off. He has also refused to hand over Harun and Kushayb.

According to the United Nations, up to 300,000 people have died in the Darfur conflict, and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since rebels rose up against Khartoum in February 2003. Sudan puts the death toll at 10,000.

The ICC is the world's first independent, permanent war crimes court.