Asuncion , Paraguay ( CNN ) -- Peasants in eastern Paraguay opened fire Friday on police trying to evict them from private property , initiating a clash that ended with at least 17 dead , local authorities and state-run media said . The violence occurred in Curuguaty , a remote community about 240 kilometers ( 150 miles ) northeast of the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion near the Brazilian border . About 300 law enforcement officers arrived Friday morning to serve the order when some of the approximately 100 farmers who had been occupying the land illegally for more than a month began shooting at them , authorities said . Curuguaty Hospital director Gustavo Gonzalez told the state-run Paraguay Agency of Public Information that seven policemen and more than 10 farmers were killed . About 80 more police and civilians were wounded and were receiving medical treatment , Gonzalez added . Three of the police officers were flown to Asuncion for treatment , the official news agency said . Authorities did not detail the number of civilians killed , but they did confirm the deaths of seven police , including the chief and deputy chief of the national police 's special operations unit . `` The police entered and tried to get the people to leave , to get out of the place , '' Interior Minister Carlos Filizzola told Telefuturo . `` There were shots against the police and , well , from there a confrontation was produced . '' Police said the peasants had been camping on land owned by Blas Riquelme , a businessman and politician active in the South American nation 's Colorado Party . But Jose Rodriguez , the leader of the `` tent people '' -- so named because they live in tents , told Radio Nacional that the peasants were on public lands that Riquelme had acquired illegally . Rodriguez lamented the loss of life , but said the peasant leaders did not order the attack on police . He added that the institutions of government do n't work and there is a need for agrarian reform . After the incident , President Fernando Lugo sent soldiers to the zone . `` All the resources of government security and strategic air are working at this moment to restore calm and tranquility to this region of the country , '' he said . `` I have ordered the armed forces to develop their specific mission in support of the police operation . '' In a special session , the House of Representatives observed a minute of silence in honor of the dead , the Agency of Public Information reported . Journalist Sanie Lopez in Asuncion and Marilia Brocchetto in Atlanta contributed to this report .
Authorities try to evict peasants camping in east Paraguay . Peasants open fire , leading to 10 civilian and 7 police deaths , a hospital official says . The chief of the national police 's special operations unit is among those killed , police say .