MOSCOW (AP) — Several hundred people are rallying in a city in Russia's North Caucasus, protesting a land swap deal with a neighboring region.

The regions of Ingushetia and Chechnya last week signed a deal to exchange what was described as unpopulated plots of agricultural land.

Russian media reported on Thursday that several hundred protesters, some of them on horseback, gathered in the Ingush capital of Magas to protest a vote at the local legislature to ratify the agreement.

The region's Constitutional Court ruled earlier Thursday that the agreement should be put up to a vote at a referendum.

The protests in Ingushetia have highlighted deep distrust between the two neighboring regions.