A Mexican reporter was shot dead on Wednesday in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, according to the newspaper Expreso where he worked.

Antonio de la Cruz was the 12th journalist killed so far this year in Mexico. In his posts on social media, he had frequently denounced alleged acts of corruption by politicians.

"Faced with this new act of violence, the publishing group Expreso-La Razon demands justice from authorities at all levels," the newspaper said.

De la Cruz's daughter was injured in the attack in Ciudad Victoria, it added.

Tamaulipas state legislator Gustavo Cardenas, who was close to the journalist, told the Milenio television station that De la Cruz's wife was also shot in the head.

It is noteworthy that more than 150 journalists have been murdered since 2000 in Mexico, with only a fraction of the crimes resulting in convictions.

The victims are often reporters working for local media in states riven by drug cartel-related violence and US arms flow.

According to the human rights organization Articulo 19, seven journalists were killed in Mexico in 2021, the highest amount in the world, with 33 journalists slain in the previous three years.

In February, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador accused the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken of "interfering" after he called for greater accountability over a string of journalist murders.

The public row with US President Joe Biden's administration came after the killing of at least five journalists in 2022, before the number further grew to include four more journalists at the time.