Thirteen people were killed and one was reported missing after a dispute between two groups over land rights in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca erupted in violence, local prosecutors said Tuesday.

The deadly conflict took place Monday in Yautepec district, when members of a one communal land association “were attacked” by members of a neighboring group after entering into a disputed zone, prosecutors said in a statement.

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Two of the dead were women, and another person was wounded, according to local authorities.

Several dozen police officers were deployed to the area after the incident.

Oaxaca state, one of the poorest in Mexico, is home to numerous indigenous communities that spar over land rights. The two groups involved in Monday’s violence have been battling each other since the 1970s.

(AFP)