Mexico's drug war violence continued over the Christmas period with the discovery of six decapitated heads in the western state of Michoacan and the killing of seven people in neighbouring Guerrero.
The Michoacan state prosecutor's office said the six heads were found on Christmas Day in Jiquilpan, a municipality near the state of Jalisco. The area has been a battleground between competing drug gangs in recent years. The victims have not yet been identified and their bodies have not been found.
In Guerrero, state security officials reported that gunmen entered a house and shot seven people dead in the municipality of Atoyac de Alvarez. Five of the victims were members of one family, and two were a married couple. Among the dead were two municipal police officers and one state police officer.
State security spokesman Roberto Alvarez Heredia said the preliminary investigation suggested the gunmen intended to kill one of the victims in a revenge attack but ended up killing all seven. Guerrero, home to the resort city of Acapulco, is one of the states most plagued by drug gang violence.
