A sob rose from the crowd of mourners Friday as white ambulances entered Nigeria's main military cemetery, carrying the bodies of seven soldiers killed while on peacekeeping duty in Darfur.

Nigeria, the biggest troop contributor to African peacekeeping missions, suffered the heaviest losses when Darfur rebels overran an African Union post in North Darfur last weekend. In all, seven Nigerians and one peacekeeper each from Botswana, Senegal and Mali were killed.

Nigerians, including those mourning Friday, said the attack would not bury hope that they and other Africans can bring peace to the world's poorest continent with missions like the one in Sudan's Darfur.

''Anywhere you have war, you will have losses,'' said Matthew Edoh, whose uncle, Lance Corp. Danjuma Madaki, was among the seven Nigerians brought home for burial Friday. ''But if you can go for peace, even if you sacrifice yourself, you must go. We are all fellow human beings.''

The funeral drew about 500 people -- soldiers in uniform, men in suits, women pulling their traditional printed wraps close against the early morning chill.

The deaths in Darfur ''will not deter us,'' said a military spokesman, Col. Mohammed Yusuf. ''If your neighbor's house is on fire, you can't just stand there. You must help. Also, it can spread to your own house.''

Nigeria, a peacekeeping leader on the continent, has sent troops to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo and elsewhere. It has suffered losses before, particularly when Nigerian troops helped battle rebels trying to seize the capitals of Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In Darfur, a Nigerian, Gen. Martin Agwai, commands the AU force of 7,000. Nigeria has one battalion, or about 800 troops, in Darfur now and has said it will likely send another battalion to join a joint AU-UN force that was to replace the current AU force.

The weekend attack has spurred new calls for the joint force of 26,000 -- most were expected to be African, at Sudan's insistence -- to be deployed quickly. The first troops are expected to go this month and the new mission is expected to assume responsibility for Darfur on Dec. 31.

The AU force has long been seen as too small and under-equipped to be effective.

AU soldiers have been attacked regularly since their mission was deployed in June 2004. Darfur rebels have grown increasingly hostile to the AU force, saying it favors the Sudanese government and has failed to protect Darfur civilians. The AU denies any favoritism.

More than 200,000 people have died in Darfur since ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of discrimination.

Sudan's government is accused of retaliating by unleashing janjaweed militias, which are blamed for the worst atrocities against civilians in a conflict that has displaced more than 2.5 million people.