Ten killed in fresh Sudan poll attack

Another bout of violence during this week’s independence referendum has killed 10 people, a security official in Southern Sudan said today.

Minister of Internal Affairs Major General Gier Chuang Aluong said Arab tribesman attacked a bus carrying Southern Sudanese from the north to the south, killing 10 people and wounding 18.

He said the attack happened in the state of South Khordofan yesterday.

Maj. Gen. Aluong blamed the attack on the Misseriya, a nomadic cattle herding tribe. Misseriya leader Omar al-Ansari denied the attack happened.

Southern officials have said that the Misseriya attacked police in the contested region of Abyei on Sunday, killing 20.

International officials fear the tentative peace between North and South Sudan could be disrupted during this week’s referendum.