MEXICO CITY, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-five people have been killed in Mexico's most violent northern Chihuahua state in less than 24 hours since Sunday, the state prosecutor's office said on Monday.

The bloodiest incident was a multiple murder in the border city of Ciudad Juarez in which eight people were killed by gunmen in a bar on Monday.

Another six people were shot dead in Praxedis G. Guerrero, a small town 60 km from Cuidad Juarez, when a group of unidentified gunmen entered a private house and opened fire at the guests during a gathering. Four were killed on the spot and two others died on the way to hospital.

Meanwhile, eight more people were killed in a violent incident in the town of Porvenir and three in Juarez.

Drug traffickers in Chihuahua state have increased violence against civilians and the authorities as a governmental clampdown on drug smuggling activities has cut into their profits.

About 4,000 people have been killed in drug-related murders in Mexico in the first seven months of 2009 although the government declared a war against drug lords and deployed troops to the most violent areas in December 2006.