At least 10 people were killed in a clash between rival groups in the municipality of Temosachi, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, local authorities announced Monday.

State police spokeswoman Alexa Estrada said the investigation established that the confrontation between armed groups in the mountainous area of Chihuahua have occurred between Sunday and the early hours of Monday.

Once arriving at the scene, staffs of the state police and forensic services were attacked from a hill with gun shots, but no officer was injured, she said.

After the police personnel repelled the attack, the assailants fled the area, and then the bodies of victims and other evidence have been transferred to the nearby Cuauhtemoc municipality for further investigation.

Estrada said the Mexican Army personnel are still guarding the area to ensure peace and tranquillity for the inhabitants of that region.

Tenosachi is a rural municipality with a population of just over 6,000 people where traditionally grown marijuana and poppy. Heavy clashes have been registered in recent months in this area of Chihuahua where armed groups linked to Juarez cartel and Sinaloa cartel dispute over the territory.

Mexico is experiencing an escalation of violence by the disputes between drug cartels and military deployment for combat, leaving more than 47,000 killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched the "war against organized crimes" in 2006.