The Inter American Press Association today called on the authorities in Mexico to urgently investigate the murder of reporter Adrian Silva Moreno in Puebla, Mexico, who now is the seventh journalist killed so far this year in that country according to their count.

Moreno Silva who was a freelance journalist and worked for several local newspapers, along with another person who was with him identified as Misrael Lopez Gonzalez were both killed on Wednesday in the town of Tehuacan, Puebla.

"We condemn this act of violence and urge the authorities to investigate this crime expeditiously to know the reasons that motivated it, and also to identify those responsible and bring them to justice," said in a statement Claudio Paolillo, who is the chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, and the director of the Uruguayan weekly journal "Busqueda".

According to IAPA, citing local media, both Silva Moreno (34) and Lopez Gonzalez (27) were in a vehicle returning from covering a military operation, when they were intercepted and attacked by at least three men aboard a van.

The reporter was killed instantly and his body was found with multiple gunshot wounds. His companion who was also a former cop "got out of the car but was overtaken by the attackers who killed him with a shot to the head in front of 10 people who were in the street."

The IAPA mentions that this year six other journalists have been killed in Mexico: Victor Manuel Baez Chino, Gabriel Huge, Guillermo Luna, Esteban Rodriguez, Regina Martinez and Marcos Antonio Avila Garcia.

In addition they are also urging the authorities in Mexico to investigate the whereabouts of journalist Adela Jasmine Lopez Alcaraz that has been missing since October 26, who was the host of the cable news Channel 12 in Rioverde which is a municipality in the state of San Luis Potosi.

The kidnappers also captured the journalist's two minor children, who were then later released, and the authorities have not yet been able to establish whether the disappearance is linked to her profession, according to the IAPA.

Other journalists missing in Mexico this year according to this organization are Miguel Estrada Morales, Zane Plemmons and Federico Garcia Manuel Contreras.