BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Four people were killed and at least 14 injured in what officials said was an attack by a dissident faction of the disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Local activists disputed the account, saying security forces fired on a crowd of protesting coca growers.

The confusing incident took place Thursday in a rural area of southern Colombia. The Defense Ministry said the holdout rebels launched homemade mortars and opened gunfire on a group of protesters and coca eradicators escorted by the military.

But local activist Jose Santacruz said eyewitnesses told him that security forces carried out the attack on the coca growers protesting attempts to forcibly eradicate the illegal crops.

Clashes between coca growers and security forces have become more frequent as production of cocaine in Colombia has surged.