Nine Bodies Found In Mexico

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (CNN) -- Nine bodies have been found in a common grave in the desert south of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, according to Chihuahua state prosecutor's spokeswoman Daniela Gonzalez.

Investigators have yet to determine the identities of the seven men and two women found in the grave, Gonzalez said. They have not released information on how they were killed or how long they have been there.

Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, has become one of the major battlegrounds as drug cartels fight both each other and Mexican authorities. The conflict has made violence increasingly common in Juarez, Tijuana and other Mexican border towns.

Extreme violence among warring drug cartels and the Mexican government has long plagued Juarez and the state of Chihuahua, but the situation has been getting worse.

Last month, the city's chief of police was obliged to quit after threats from organized crime to kill a policeman every day that he remained on the job.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Consulate in Juarez specifically warned Americans to avoid an area southeast of the city.

"There has been a dramatic increase in drug related violence in the Guadalupe Bravo area and there is no indication that the situation will improve in the near future," the consulate said on its Web site.

[see: 5 human heads discovered in ice chests in central Mexico]