MEXICO CITY - Troops discovered at least 72 bodies, including those of 14 women, at a ranch in northeastern Mexico after a clash with gunmen within kilometers of the US border, the Mexican military said early Wednesday.

The gruesome find came after a shootout between troops and suspected drug traffickers near the town of San Fernando, in Tamaulipas state, which borders Texas, in which one member of the military and three gunmen were killed, according to the Mexican Navy.

Besides the exceptionally high number of dead, incident is also significant in that it underscores differences in law enforcement on both sides of the US-Mexico border, which sees 300 million crossings annually.