Two Mexican journalists from the state of Guerrero were killed in four days

Edgar Alberto Nava and Rogelio Barragan were killed days apart and authorities have not said if the two killings are connected or linked to the victims' work as journalists. The state of Guerrero, many territories of which are controlled by drug trafficking organizations, holds one of the country's highest homicide rates, the research initiative Justice in Mexico says.

Nava, shot and killed Friday in Guerrero's municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azueta, will be at least the ninth journalist to die in Mexico this year. Nava was "was shot with a 9mm caliber firearm," the state attorney general's office said. An investigation is ongoing, the office said.

Nava worked for the news outlet La Verdad de Zihuatanejo. He also worked as a municipal employee, the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas said.

Jorge Sánchez Allec, the mayor of Zihuatanejo de Azueta said he was "deeply sorry for the attack against my friend and colleague Edgar Nava."

On July 30, Barragan was found dead inside a car with his hands tied and signs of torture, according Mexico's government run news site Notimex. Barragan, who worked for the digital news outlet Guerrero Al Instante, was found dead in Zacatepec, a town in the state of Morelos, a few miles from Guerrero.

A deadly country for journalists

Mexico is the most dangerous country for journalists in the Western Hemisphere, the Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) says.

CPJ's Mexico Representative Jan-Albert Hootsen called for "an immediate and credible investigation" into both deaths.

"These two brutal killings within days of each other are the tragic consequence of Mexico's failure to seriously address impunity in attacks on the press," Hootsen said in a statement.

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission also condemned both killings and urged authorities to investigate.

Reporters Without Borders, known internationally as Reporters Sans Frontières, or RSF, said earlier this week eight Mexican journalists have been killed in 2019 but they have not yet reacted to Friday's killing.

"Barragan's murder confirms Mexico's status as the world's deadliest country for the media in 2019," RSF said Wednesday. Journalists covering political corruption and organized crime are often the targets of violence in Mexico, RSF has said.

CNN's Nicole Chavez contributed to this report.

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