MEXICO CITY, – Gunmen shot dead six people, including children, in western Mexico in an execution-style massacre of the kind often carried out by drug gangs, Mexico media said Thursday.

All the victims, apparently from the same family, were shot in the back of the head and found shrouded in blankets in a house near the town of Zapotlan el Grande, online newspapers said.

Two girls aged 7 and 8, and a 15-year-old boy were among the dead.

The state of Jalisco attorney general's office declined comment on the killings, which were similar to executions carried out by warring drug gangs.

Some 1,700 people have died in drug feuds in Mexico this year. Until recently, the traffickers rarely killed children but minors have increasingly become victims in recent months.

President Felipe Calderón has sent thousands of troops and federal police to crush the drug gangs since taking office in late 2006 but the violence has not eased.

(Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz, Editing by Sandra Maler)