Mexico violence: Children killed in Guerrero shooting Published duration 5 July 2013

image copyright AFP image caption Communities in parts of Mexico badly affected by drug violence have formed vigilante groups in response

Five children are among seven people found dead with gunshot wounds in the Mexican state of Guerrero.

The bodies were found in a field in the town of Coyuca de Benitez, which is close to the resort of Acapulco on Mexico's Pacific coast, according to local police chief Honorio Salinas.

Some of the victims had been shot in the head.

The state has been beset by drug-related violence, and vigilante groups have formed in response.

The "self-defence groups" accuse the authorities of failing to provide security for ordinary citizens in the region.

Violence fuelled by the drugs trade is thought to have killed around 70,000 people in Mexico since 2006.

President Enrique Pena Nieto has made the fight against organised crime one of his main priorities.