The idyllic Pacific coast town of Acapulco in Mexico’s Guerrero state once welcomed Hollywood stars and honeymooners, but the city has suffered a wave of bloody violence in recent years, as cartels and criminal groups battle for control.

Since 2012, Acapulco, which has been called “Guerrero's Iraq,” has been the most violent city in Mexico, and among the most violent cities in the world, with homicide rates above 100 per 100,000 people each year.

In 2015, Acapulco, home to about 800,000 people, saw 1,170 killings. In the first three months of this year, there were 205 homicides — in March alone, the city had 98 of Guerrero’s 182 homicides.

These numbers are down from violent peaks reached in 2012 — the city had about 100 homicides a month that year — but the intensity of the bloodshed stands out, and appears to be closely linked to the fragmentation of Mexico’s criminal organizations.

“Violence in the southwest coastal area is the result of the some of the shifting cartel dynamics that we've seen among the major players ... dating back four or five years … when we saw the takedown of the major figures of the Beltran Leyva Organization,” David Shirk, professor at the University of San Diego, told Business Insider.

The Beltran Leyva Organization, or BLO, partnered with “El Chapo” Guzmán’s Sinaloa cartel and controlled parts of central and southwestern Mexico. In the late 2000s, the BLO started fighting with the Sinaloa cartel and faced increased pressure from the Mexican government.

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“The fragmentation effect that followed from that led to the splintering of the remnants of the Beltran Leyva Organization into various regional players,” Shirk, the director of USD’s Justice in Mexico program, said.

"So it's a lot of those smaller groups along with the Sinaloa cartel that are in conflict in that area," Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, told Business Insider.

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The BLO, backed by the powerful and violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel, has tried to reassert control in Acapulco since late last year, clashing with local groups like the Independent Cartel of Acapulco (CIDA), according to The Associated Press.

CIDA is one of three criminal groups operating in the city, and one of eight present in Guerrero, according to government reports seen by El Universal.

The CIDA is believed to be responsible for recent violence that has gained international attention, in particular for multiple attacks on federal police stationed in the heart of Acapulco on April 24.

The attacks were suspected to be retaliation for the capture of a CIDA leader the day before.