Colombia’s increase in homicides is mainly due to assassinations that doubled between 2017 and last year, a study revealed.
According to think tank Futuros Urbanos, 61% of the homicides committed in Colombia last year were assassinations.
Based on police statistics, the think tank said that assassins, also known as “sicarios,” murdered 8,161 people last year.
This would be more than double than in 2017 when Futuros Urbanos registered 4,080 assassinations.
Homicides in Colombia
The problem in Colombia’s cities
More than 1,100 of the assassinations that were committed last year took place in Colombia’s five biggest cities, according to Futuros Urbanos.
In the capital Bogota, 45% of the 629 homicides committed so far this year were attributed to sicarios.
The number of assassinations in Bogota multiplied in the past five years, according to the think tank.
Assassinations in Colombia’s biggest cities
The city with the highest number of assassinations was Cali, where sicarios assassinated 430 people so far this year, according to the think tank.
Authorities from Colombia’s third largest city said earlier this month that they had registered a drop in homicides so far this year.
The number of assassinations in the Caribbean cities Barranquilla and Cartagena surged this year, said Futuros Urbanos.
Police registered 160 assassinations in Barranquilla and another 132 in Cartagena.
The sharp increase in violent crime in the Caribbean port city could be due to a turf war between paramilitary organization AGC and local organized crime groups.
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The Medellin case
The only major city where assassinations and other forms of violent crime have dropped significantly was Medellin.
According to Futuros Urbanos, sicarios assassinated 108 people in Colombia’s second largest city so far this year.
This would imply a slight increase compared to last year when local authorities reported the lowest homicide rate in recorded history.
Medellin’s violent crime statistics drop significantly