Police opened fire Sunday to disperse crowds of blacks in Soweto angered by an overnight attack on a squatter camp that killed at least 10 people. At least three people were wounded during Sunday's confrontations, according to a witness. A total of 32 people had died in black factional fighting since Saturday, reports said. Hundreds have died since the violence in black townships near Johannesburg began less than one month ago. Residents accused Zulu supporters of the conservative Inkatha movement of launching the nighttime attack with police help. They also said masked white men took part in the assault on Soweto's Tladi squatter camp. The head of the South African Council of Churches, the Rev. Frank Chikane, visited the camp and said he had seen enough to know that ``police are involved in killing us.'' Police fought running battles with residents hurling rocks and firebombs throughout the morning near the camp in the sprawling township southwest of Johannesburg. At least three blacks were wounded when police opened fire with birdshot and live ammunition, a witness said. Earlier, police had fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the residents. The Independent South African Press Association reported a crowd of about 100 people attacked the camp on Saturday night, assaulting occupants and smashing dwellings. A total of 26 people were killed in Soweto over the weekend, police said Sunday. Residents and witnesses said 13 died at the Tladi squatter camp, but police could not confirm that figure. Six other deaths were reported Sunday in other Johannesburg-area townships, including four men found stabbed in a van at a squatter camp near Vosloorus, south of the city. Fighting between Zulu Inkatha backers and Xhosas and other blacks loyal to the African National Congress has killed nearly 600 people in black townships near Johannesburg since Aug. 12. Black leaders and others have accused police of fueling the violence by siding with the Inkatha fighters. Police and government officials have denied the charge, saying some officers may have acted improperly but that the force as a whole was impartial. Police confirmed Saturday they would investigate the allegations. A police spokesman told the government-operated South African Broadcasting Co. that witnesses would be interviewed. The leftist ANC and more conservative Inkatha blame each other for the factional fighting. Both groups oppose apartheid but differ over tactics and plans for a future South Africa. The two sides have been fighting for supremacy since 1986 in the eastern province of Natal. Those battles have resulted in about 5,000 deaths.
