A journalist was killed by gunmen in central Mexico on Monday, authorities said -- the seventh such murder this year in one of the world's most dangerous countries for reporters.

Israel Vazquez Rangel, who worked for the online newspaper El Salmantino in violence-plagued Guanajuato state, was shot while out reporting and later died in hospital, prosecutors said in a statement.

His newspaper said the 31-year-old was covering the discovery of human remains in the city of Salamanca when he was attacked by two men.

"We vigorously condemn the cowardly and atrocious attack against our dear colleague Israel Vazquez while he was carrying out his honorable journalistic work," the daily said in a statement.

Media rights groups the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced the murder.

Journalists protest against the murder of one of their colleagues in Mexico,one of the world's most dangerous countries for reporters
Journalists protest against the murder of one of their colleagues in Mexico,one of the world's most dangerous countries for reporters AFP / STR

"It's a deplorable situation because violence continues in Mexico, especially against journalists," RSF's Mexico representative Balbina Flores told AFP.

The group regularly ranks Mexico alongside war-torn Syria and Afghanistan as the world's most dangerous countries for news media.

More than 100 reporters have been murdered since 2000 in Mexico, where investigating political corruption or powerful drug cartels can have deadly repercussions.

Only a fraction of those crimes have resulted in convictions.

In September, journalist Julio Valdivia was found decapitated in the eastern state of Veracruz, a flashpoint in turf wars between rival drug cartels.

The following month, journalist and television news show host Arturo Alba Medina was shot dead in Ciudad Juarez near the US border.

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