A group of aid workers in Sudan have been killed in an attack on their vehicle in the south of the country.

The attack took place near the Ugandan border on Thursday.

A spokesman for a Norwegian relief agency, operating in the area Norwegian Church Aid said eleven people were in the vehicle when it was attacked and set ablaze.

Only three survived.

He said it was suspected that Ugandan rebels operating from inside Sudan were to blame. He said he thought rebels from a group known as the Lord's Resistance Army -- which is fighting to overthrow the Ugandan government -- had feared the radio inside the vehicle could be used to give away their position. The aid workers -- from Sudan and Kenya were trying to assess the condition of civilians on the Sudanese side of the border who had been displaced by rebels recently.

Sudan and Uganda have for years accused each other of harbouring rebels fighting their respective governments but recently took steps to repair relations and halt all support for rebel groups.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service