Covered by NTD Television, farmers from a local village had blockaded an undisclosed open cut coal operation for 22 days.

The villagers were upset their farmland, including about 20 acres used for growing walnuts, had been “illegally sold” to the unnamed coal company by local officials.

The villagers reportedly refused the company’s offer to purchase their land last year.

This dispute came to a violent end when the mine operator reportedly ordered armed men to attack the villages blockading access to the mine.

Villagers claim that 27 people were hospitalised while 10 more were injured.

“The coal mine illegally took our land,” injured villager Gao Yanbin told the television station.

“Our crops were still on it. Villagers have been appealing since last year, but the authorities wouldn’t take care of it, we even went to appeal in Beijing.”