Puebla (Mexico), Nov 16 (IANS/EFE): A journalist was killed while on assignment in the central Mexican state of Puebla, the newspaper that employed him said Thursday.

Adrian Silva Moreno, 34, was slain Wednesday after he had finished covering a story about the discovery of a warehouse full of stolen fuel in the town of Tehuacan, about two hours by road from Puebla city, the state capital, regional daily Puntual said.

Silva and a 22-year-old former cop traveling with him were fatally shot by three assailants in a pickup truck, the state Attorney General's Office said.

The attackers opened fire on the journalist and his companion, witnesses told authorities.

Police found the assailants' truck abandoned about 150 meters from the crime scene.

The shooters fled in another vehicle, Puntual said, noting that the attack occurred in broad daylight.

Wracked since the mid-2000s by a multi-sided drug war, Mexico has become the Western Hemisphere's most dangerous country for journalists. More than 80 media personnel have been murdered in the country over the last 12 years, according to the independent National Human Rights Commission.