Forensic technicians inspect a body after unknown assailants gunned down two persons while leaving a restaurant in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

At least 26 people died or were wounded in a shootout in the northern Mexican border state of Chihuahua early on Wednesday, a spokesman from that state's attorney general's office told Reuters.

The incident, which took place near the rural community of Las Varas in western Chihuahua, involved two armed groups, and the number of dead could rise, spokesman Felix Gonzalez told Reuters.

State authorities clarified that of the 26 reported victims, at least 14 had been killed.

Mexican newspaper El Diario, based in Chihuahua, reported on Wednesday morning that the clash left more than 30 people dead.

Several hours later, citing the state attorney general's office, El Diario reported that 26 had been killed and three people were wounded. The three wounded were detained by police, who also seized 20 firearms, including pistols and high-caliber rifles, 10 vehicles, grenades, and tactical equipment.

The fighting began around 5 a.m. on Wednesday. According to El Diario, the incident started when state-security officials arrived in the area in response to reports of gun shots and came under fire from armed groups belonging to the Sinaloa cartel and La Linea, which is the armed wing of the Juarez cartel.

Some weeks ago, an attack in the same area, about 185 miles from the state capital, left two police officers dead. A few days after that attack, a hidden grave was found with at least eight bodies.

Ciudad Juarez, the state's major city sitting just over the border from the Texas city of El Paso, has seen considerable violence in years past and in recent months.

But rural areas in the state's interior have also seen violence related to organized crime.

Chihuahua has seen cartel-related violence in several areas over the last few years. Google Maps

The state's southwest corner is part of the Golden Triangle, an area of intense opium and marijuana cultivation that spans Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa states and has long been controlled by the Sinaloa cartel.

The Sinaloa cartel, weakened after the extradition of kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, is thought to be in a turf war with the resurgent Juarez cartel in Ciudad Juarez, a valuable territory for smugglers.

The powerful Jalisco New Generation cartel is also believed to be active in Ciudad Juarez.

Trafficking routes crisscross the state, linking cultivation areas in the Golden Triangle with the border.

Chihuahua's Tarahumara highlands, a rural area withing the Golden Triangle, saw more homicides than Ciudad Juarez in September 2015, despite the highlands' sparse population.

(Reporting for Reuters by Noel Randewich)

This post has been updated.