Twenty-eight killed in Mexico violence

ACAPULCO: At least 28 people were reported killed in Mexico in the past 24 hours, including seven whose bodies were found in a vehicle in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, authorities said Tuesday.

Outside Acapulco, nine people were killed in the western state of Michoacan, eight in northern Nuevo Leon and four others in northern Coahuila in gangland-style killings amid a wave of drug-related violence across Mexico.

Police found an abandoned vehicle containing seven bodies and an apparent message from drug traffickers in Acapulco on Monday, hours after the same car was involved in a chase with police after its driver ignored a command to stop, said an official from the Guerrero state prosecutor's office Tuesday.

The killings occurred as thousands of tourists were visiting the legendary beach resort during Easter holidays. The victims have yet to be identified.

In Michoacan state, neighboring Guerrero, six suspects were killed in clashes with soldiers and three other bodies were found by a road with a message allegedly signed by drug traffickers, a military official said.

Another clash between soldiers and suspected criminals in Coahuila state Monday left one police officer and three gunmen dead, a state police officer told.

Meanwhile in the town of Guadalupe, outside the northern city of Monterrey, an armed gang killed eight people in attacks at two illegal taxi stands on Tuesday, officials said.

Gangland-style killings, kidnappings and extortion have risen in Mexico amid a military offensive on organized crime launched by President Felipe Calderon in December 2006.

Drug-related violence is blamed for more than 50,000 deaths across the country in the past five years. (AFP)