MEXICO CITY — An armed gang stormed two hotels in Mexico's northern economic hub of Monterrey and abducted seven people from one of them, the Nuevo Leon state attorney general said on Wednesday.

Alejandro Garza told a news conference that all those abducted were Mexicans, after Mexican media reported that a US citizen had been among the victims.

Around 30 armed men arrived at the Holiday Inn in central Monterrey in 12 vehicles in the early hours of Wednesday before abducting four guests, two receptionists and possibly a security guard, Garza said.

A handcuffed person who had apparently been hit in the face led them to certain rooms from where they forced guests to leave, according to witness reports cited by Garza.

The gang also visited the Hotel Mision but did not abduct anyone from there, Garza added.

The attackers used vehicles to block several roads around the hotels in central Monterrey, Mexico's third-largest city, during the raid.

Drug-related violence has intensified in Mexico's northern border areas in recent weeks. Drug gang members have blocked roads and engaged in shootouts with police around Monterrey.

At least 16 people were killed in separate attacks since Tuesday in the northern state of Chihuahua, officials said, including 11 in the country's most deadly city of Ciudad Juarez.

Arizona's two US Republican senators proposed Monday sending 3,000 more US National Guard soldiers to quell violence spilling over the border between their home state and Mexico.

More than 22,700 people have died in suspected drug violence since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown on organized crime after taking office in late 2006.

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