New report ranks Mexico as one of world’s deadliest conflict zones

Latin America

New report ranks Mexico as one of world's deadliest conflict zones

The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies recently published a survey on armed conflict. It raised questions over whether Mexico belongs on the list of the world’s most-deadly conflict zones.

CGTN’s Franc Contreras reports from Mexico City.

Since the arrests of Sinaloa Cartel leaders, bloody battles are raging inside that drug trafficking organization for control of its illegal profits.

The Excelsior newspaper reported that in the first four months of 2017, more than 600 violent deaths have taken place in Sinaloa. Other Mexican states have similarly high murder rates.

In 2016, Mexico had nearly 23,000 people killed, more than the numbers of people killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Those figures are cited in the 2017 Armed Conflict Survey, issues by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The report ranks Mexico as the world’s second most deadly conflict zone, after Syria.

Mexico’s federal government rejects the study, questioning the sources of its data.

Mexico’s Interior and Foreign Relations Ministries issued a statement saying, “The existence of criminal groups is not sufficient criteria to speak of a non-international armed conflict in Mexico.”

The IISS stands by its findings, saying it classifies Mexico as an armed conflict country because the national government has characterized criminal cartels as an existential threat.