MEXICO CITY (AP) — The bodies of 16 people were found in two different areas of a northern Mexico border state where a surge in violence in recent weeks has triggered civic protests over drug-fueled killings.

The Tamaulipas state government said in a statement that police found the bodies of five men and four women in an empty lot of the town of Hidalgo on Monday. Nearby, three homes had been set ablaze, it said.