Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has blamed the United States in part for the surge in cartel violence terrorizing the northern state of Sinaloa which has left at least 30 people dead in the past week.

Some 53 people have been killed and 51 others are missing in Mexico's western Sinaloa state since rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel began clashing on Sept 9, local authorities said on Friday, with gruesome violence showing no signs of abating.

At least 30 people have been killed in the past two weeks in Mexico’s northern state of Sinaloa as two factions of the powerful Sinaloa cartel continue to clash.

National Guards and Army forces patrol the streets during an operation in a neighborhood of Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico on Sept 19. (AP)

Two warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel appear to be fighting for power since two of its leaders were arrested in the U.S.

Mexican leader says the U.S. bore some responsibility "for having carried out that operation" to arrest Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada.