MEXICO CITY - A journalist from the east Mexican town of Tulum was gunned down by two assailants on a motorcycle as he drove his car, a local media association said Wednesday.

Alberto Velazquez Lopez, 42, was killed Tuesday by two men who drove alongside his moving car and "shot him at close range," Veronica Alfonso, the president of the Reporters Association of the Mayan Riviera, told AFP.

Alfonso said Velazquez Lopez worked for local newspaper Expresiones de Tulum, which has been the target of threats before.

The newspaper's offices were attacked with homemade bombs in November, though no damage was reported.

Velazquez Lopez died as he was being transferred to nearby Cancun, which has better medical services than Tulum.

In a statement, the Reporters Association demanded "clarification of the facts from the state attorney general's office."

Mexico has become an increasingly dangerous place for journalists, particularly those covering the activities of drug cartels whose wars with each other and the federal government have killed thousands of people.

Local non-governmental organizations have reported the deaths of at least 57 journalists in the country since 2000, and another ten media workers have gone missing.