More than 29,000 murders were recorded in Mexico in 2017, the highest annual tally in decades, government figures have shown.
The country has struggled with years of violence as the state has battled drug cartels that have increasingly splintered into smaller, more bloodthirsty gangs.
In 2011, at least 27,213 people were murdered in Mexico’s drug war but the murder rate of 2017 is 29, 168 which is higher than that year.
The interior ministry reported the figures on Sunday, which are the highest since comparable records began in 1997.
Ferocity is a central issue in July’s presidential election. The Mexican president, Enrique Pena Nieto, faces an arduous battle to keep his ruling Institutional Revolutionary party in office.
There were 40% more murder investigations opened last year compared with 2013, Peña Nieto’s first full year in office.
The country’s homicide rate of 20.5 for every 100,000 inhabitants was still below that of Brazil and Colombia, both at 27, and well below El Salvador’s 60.8.
Mexico rejected a claim by Donald Trump on Thursday that it was the most dangerous country in the world.
Drug violence and turf battles intoxicated by the spread of the Jalisco New Generation cartel are presumed to be a major factor behind the rising murder rate.
> Shiuly Akter
