FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Authorities in Sierra Leone say serious pre-election violence broke out over the weekend, leaving at least 10 people wounded.

The fighting in the diamond-rich Kono District comes just weeks before voters head to the polls for presidential and legislative elections in this West African nation.

Police Superintendent Saidu Jalloh says violence broke out Saturday in Kono, the home district of the incumbent vice president.

The opposition party says youth backing the governing APC party threw stones, seriously injuring seven people. The ruling party, though, accuses opposition supporters of attacking people and trying to burn one man's house down.

Sierra Leone was ravaged by an 11-year-long brutal civil war that ended in 2002.