At least 23 people have died in clashes near Sudan’s north-south border. The violence comes one day after polls opened in Southern Sudan for a week-long referendum on Southern independence. Southerners are expected to vote to split from the mostly Muslim north. Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been monitoring the elections in Sudan.

Kofi Annan: “They have seen enough wars, and they are tired, and we should have positive expectation and encourage them. War and conflict is not the only option. There is enough in history to tell us that enmity between peoples need not last forever, and bitter enemies have made peace and today, in many parts of the world, live peacefully together. And it can and should happen here also in Sudan.”