QUINTIN ARAUZ, Mexico (Reuters) – Suspected drug  gang hitmen shot dead the grieving mother, brother and sister  of an elite Mexican marine who died after taking part in a raid  that killed a notorious drug lord, police said yesterday.

Gunmen burst into the family’s home in Quintin Arauz in the  southern state of Tabasco just before midnight on Monday,  firing assault rifles. It appeared to be a revenge attack for  a Mexican navy operation last week that killed Arturo Beltran  Leyva, boss of a major drug cartel.

“They broke the door down with a sledgehammer and sprayed  them with bullets in the living room and bedrooms,” said  Saturnino Dominguez, the local deputy police commander.

The marine’s aunt also was killed and another family member  was injured, Tabasco state Attorney General Rafael Gonzalez  told a news conference.

President Felipe Calderon condemned the attack on the  marine’s family, saying: “We must not be frightened by the  unscrupulous criminals who commit barbarities like this.”

The assault on his family came just hours after the funeral  of special forces marine Melquisedet Angulo, who died of wounds  suffered during the strike that killed Beltran Leyva and five  of his bodyguards last week.

Despite the deployment of 49,000 troops across Mexico,  killings by drug gangs have soared to a record 7,000, and  torture, decapitations and other atrocities have become  common.

The rising bloodshed has alarmed the U.S. government and  hurt Mexico’s image as a relatively stable destination for  foreign investors and tourists.