CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AFP) - Ten people died in drug-related violence in northern Mexico amid a massive army crackdown, and six others were killed in bloody attacks in the west of the country, officials said Wednesday.

The killings came just days after US President Barack Obama said that such attacks in Mexico had "gotten out of hand," as the United States stepped up efforts to stem violence spilling over its southern border. More than 6,400 people have been killed in Mexico alone since January last year.

Six male bodies were found handcuffed and with shots to the head in an isolated spot in Chihuahua state, an official at the local prosecutor's office said.

Police found dozens of empty bullet cases from heavy weapons nearby.

In the volatile border city of Ciudad Juarez, where more than 8,500 troops were deployed recently, two men were killed overnight Tuesday after being forced from their car and shot more than 35 times, the official said.

Two others died in nearby towns, he added.

Two chopped up male bodies with their eyes ripped out were found in the western state of Michoacan, where four others were also killed, a spokesman at the local prosecutor's office said Wednesday.

Police found the human remains in four plastic bags alongside a message referring to score-settling between drug cartels, in another key battleground for control of lucrative drug routes into the United States.

Police found four other bodies in Michoacan, including those of a woman and a police officer was kidnapped on Monday, the spokesman said.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has gambled his presidency on fight against drug trafficking, deploying more than 36,000 troops countrywide since he took power over two years ago.

But violent deaths more than doubled last year to some 5,300, including 2,400 in northern Chihuahua.