Masked gunmen burst into a bar in South Africa's troubled KwaZulu-Natal province, killing eight people who had gathered to watch World Cup soccer on television, police said Saturday.
In a separate incident nearby that was seen as a possible revenge attack, one person died and five others were wounded when gunmen opened fire on a taxi Saturday.In the bar assault late Friday in Richmond, 25 miles south of the district capital of Pietermaritzburg, six people were wounded, police Superintendent Henry Budhram said.
Witnesses said up to eight attackers opened fire in the Shepstone Street Tavern. Richmond deputy mayor Percy Thompson was among the dead.
Budhram said police were investigating whether the attack was linked to conflicts between supporters of the governing African National Congress and the opposition United Democratic Movement party.
Richmond Mayor Andrew Ragavaloo blamed the killings on political violence that has left 17 people dead in the town since May, the independent South African Press Association reported.
Political violence in KwaZulu-Natal has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people in the past decade.
Supporters of another group, the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party, have also been involved in attacks.
Inkatha spokesman Philip Powell condemned Friday's killings and called for rival parties "to swallow their pride and hold talks as a matter of urgency" to end violence ahead of national elections next year.