Why the State Department said these 5 Mexican states were unsafe for travel

Last week the United States told its citizens not to visit five violence-ridden Mexican states, placing them on the same warning level given to war-torn Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria.

The State Department's newest travel advisory for Mexico included "do not travel" warnings for the northeastern border state of Tamaulipas and the Pacific coast states of Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan and Sinaloa. The advisory gave the states its highest-risk Category 4 warning, the same classification the U.S. has given conflict-racked nations such as Libya and Yemen.