Mexico's military announced that 2,321 "aggressors" had been killed in 1,971 "aggressions" against the country's armed forces since December 2006.
The announcement by the institution known by its acronym SEDENA comes on the heels of yet another report, this one from Reuters, about how federal forces are facing more scrutiny in their fight against large criminal organizations.
The military says that it has detained over 41,000 suspected members of criminal gangs and that of the 5,962 complaints to the government's National Human Rights Commission since 2006, only 92, or 1.54 percent, have resulted in punitive actions against miliary personnel.
InSight Crime's Analysis
While it remains one of Mexico's most popular institutions, the country's military will still face a public relations challenge for 2012.
Reports of disappearances, extrajudicial executions and torture are mounting, the most important of which was a damning Human Rights Watch report that was released in November that documented over 200 cases of alleged abuse by military personnel.
In August, InSight Crime also unearthed disturbing patterns in which the number of slain "aggressors" far surpassed those of their counterparts in the military, especially in places such as the embatttled state of Tamaulipas.
The issue could seep into the presidential elections next year as the candidates will undoubtedly debate the merits of using the military to fight organized crime.
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