Mexico saw 'smaller jump in drug murders in 2011'
Violence surged in some previously calm areas like Veracruz in 2011
Mexican officials say that 12,903 people were killed in violence blamed on criminal gang rivalry between January and September last year.
Murders in 2011 were 11% up on those for 2010, the federal attorney general's office said.
But this was significantly less than the 70% rise in murders in 2009-2010.
More than 40,000 people have died in drug-related violence since late 2006 when President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on the drug gangs.
The federal attorney-general's office (PGR) had not given any official figures on to drug-related murders since January last year.
The statistics released now are an advance on the database the PGR is keeping on murders attributed to conflicts between rival criminal organisations.
The PGR statement said that the 11% rise was "a significant decrease" on previous years.
This compared with an increase of 70% in 2009-2010; 63% in 2008-2009 and a 110% jump in 2007-2008.
However, correspondents note that the figures for 2011 are for a nine-month period rather than a whole year.
The PGR said that the murders were concentrated in some eight of Mexico's 32 states.
Ciudad Juarez continues to be among the most violent municipalities, with 1,206 murders, although this was a sharp drop on the estimated 2,500 killings the year before.
Source http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16518267
Mexican officials say that 12,903 people were killed in violence blamed on criminal gang rivalry between January and September last year.
Murders in 2011 were 11% up on those for 2010, the federal attorney general's office said.
But this was significantly less than the 70% rise in murders in 2009-2010.
More than 40,000 people have died in drug-related violence since late 2006 when President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on the drug gangs.
The federal attorney-general's office (PGR) had not given any official figures on to drug-related murders since January last year.
The statistics released now are an advance on the database the PGR is keeping on murders attributed to conflicts between rival criminal organisations.
The PGR statement said that the 11% rise was "a significant decrease" on previous years.
This compared with an increase of 70% in 2009-2010; 63% in 2008-2009 and a 110% jump in 2007-2008.
However, correspondents note that the figures for 2011 are for a nine-month period rather than a whole year.
The PGR said that the murders were concentrated in some eight of Mexico's 32 states.
Ciudad Juarez continues to be among the most violent municipalities, with 1,206 murders, although this was a sharp drop on the estimated 2,500 killings the year before.
Source http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16518267
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