At least three people were injured when a clan war erupted Thursday in the restive southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, a military official said.

Regional military spokesman Col. Dickson Hermoso said the skirmish, which occurred in the village of Balanalen in Datu Piang town, involve followers of a Muslim rebel commander and a former village official.

Hermoso said land ownership caused the conflict between the two clans.

He said civilians who were hit in the crossfire have been rushed to a hospital.

The Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ceasefire committee have dispatched peacekeepers to the area to pacify the warring clans.

In southern Philippines, skirmishes among clans are common and that hostilities could last for decades until a peace pact is reached, usually through the intervention of religious leaders and the payment of blood money.

Land disputes, political rivalries and business competition are some of the major causes of clan wars in Mindanao.