MEXICO CITY — The remains of 11 people, including two children, have been found inside a vehicle in a southern Mexican city besieged by violence, officials say.

The grim discovery was made in the city of Chilpancingo, whose mayor was beheaded last month just days after taking the job, in Guerrero state.

The identities of the victims are not yet known and the case is being treated as a homicide, the state's attorney general said.

Police were called to the scene after an abandoned pick-up truck was reported to authorities on Wednesday night.

The truck containing the bodies was found on a highway to Acapulco, which was a destination for the rich and famous in the 1950s and 1960s, but has since become a hotspot for drug-trafficking with a high murder rate.

Guerrero is one of Mexico's most violent states because of its location on the Pacific coast smuggling routes. Last year, 1,890 murders were recorded in the state.

Chilpancingo, a city of about 280,000 people, has long been the scene of turf battles between two drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos.

At least six candidates for public office were killed in the state in the run-up to Mexico's 2 June elections.

Last month, Chilpancingo mayor Alejandro Arcos was found decapitated less than a week after taking office.

More than 450,000 people have been murdered and tens of thousands have gone missing across Mexico since the government deployed the army to combat drug trafficking in 2006.

Mexico's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has made tackling violent crime a priority. She unveiled a new security plan last month that included improved intelligence-sharing and boosting the National Guard. — BBC