Attackers kill 7 in raids on 2 offices of state attorney general in Mexican resort of Acapulco

(AP) More than a dozen armed assailants staged and videotaped simultaneous attacks against two offices of the state attorney general in Acapulco on Tuesday, killing at least seven people in this Pacific resort plagued by drug violence.

The attacks took place in two neighborhoods about nine miles north of the tourist zone before 11 a.m., said Enrique Gil Mercado, special prosecutor for the attorney general's office in the state of Guerrero, which includes Acapulco.

The gunmen were dressed in military uniforms and pretended to be conducting a weapons check, said Erit Montufar, director-general of the attorney general's investigative police offices in Guerrero.

Montufar said an assailant in one office asked: "Are you the only ones here?" At the other office, a gunmen asked: "Are these all the weapons you have?"

The officers answered "yes" to both questions and handed over their weapons. The gunmen then opened fire while videotaping both shootings, Montufar said, citing witness accounts of the attacks.

Officials also did not provide a motive for the attacks or comment on why the assailants videotaped the killings.

About eight gunmen took part in each attack and all escaped, Gil said, adding he did not immediately know how many people were injured.

Four of the victims, including three agents and a secretary, were killed at an office in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood, while three, including two agents and a secretary, were killed in the Ciudad del Renacimiento neighborhood, Gil said.

Police later found a car and two vans believed to be abandoned by the attackers, with military uniforms and weapons inside. Eyewitnesses said they saw numerous men getting out of at least one of the vehicles wearing T-shirts and shorts, Montufar said.

Acapulco has suffered a wave of killings as rival drug cartels fight over coastal smuggling routes and control over a burgeoning local drug market.

Last year, the heads of at least six police officers and alleged drug smugglers were found in the resort and nearby towns.

In June, federal prosecutors announced they were investigating a homemade DVD purportedly showing four drug cartel hit men being beaten and interrogated. One was shot in the head.

Eight federal agents working in Acapulco at the time were arrested and accused of being involved, but five were later released. Police said the DVD killing was likely carried out as part of a dispute by rival drug gangs.

President Felipe Calderon, who took office in December, has sent more than 24,000 federal police and soldiers to regions ravaged by drug violence. More than 7,000 troops arrived in the Acapulco region last month.

Tourists have not been immune from the violence.

On Saturday, two Canadians suffered minor injuries after being grazed by bullets fired at the city's Casa Inn Hotel. The two were treated at a hospital and released. Police have not made any arrests in that case.