Tribal clashes over a land dispute in southern Tunisia over the weekend have injured more than 70 people, according to regional governors.

According to Sami El Ghabi, the first delegate of Sidi Bouzid, weapons were reportedly used in the clashes leaving one person in a serious condition in hospital.

“The two tribes used hunting rifles, stones and blunt objects, requiring police to intervene and use tear gas to disperse them and end the violence,” Ghabi told AFP.

He said 78 people were hospitalised in Kebili due to the clashes.

Regional Health Chief Hedi Ben Slimane told private radio station Mosaique FM that around 10 people had suffered “buckshot wounds”.

Land disputes between the two tribes date back to the country’s independence from France in 1956 and once again descended into violence last week.

Six years since the revolution that toppled long-time dictator Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali Tunisia has been grappling with issues of security, poverty, unemployment and corruption.