Mounties are blaming the ongoing drug turf war being waged on the streets of Surrey for a troubling 36 per cent increase in the city’s violent crime rate.

The stunning spike was recorded in the second quarter of 2015, according to statistics released by the RCMP Friday.

The numbers reveal that while murders are down 14 per cent year-to-date compared to last year, attempted murders are up a staggering 367 per cent – from six in the first half of 2014 all the way to 28 in the first half of 2015.

Staff Sgt. Dale Carr said that number is “pretty much completely” due to a series of shootings committed by rival drug dealers, many of which resulted in no injuries.

The shootings started to fall off by the end of June thanks to an aggressive RCMP response, he added.

“We’re doing well,” Carr said. “We’ve got a lot of engagement with the community, we’ve got a lot of targeted enforcement in the affected area where the bulk of those shootings were occurring, and I think we’re starting to make headway into resolving some of these.”

Abductions and kidnappings are also up 100 per cent, sexual assaults are up 53 per cent, robberies are up 22 per cent and assaults are up 20 per cent.

The RCMP said the vast majority of sexual assaults – 88 per cent – were committed by people who know the victim, and many attackers were spouses.

Overall, most violent crime in Surrey is targeted and very little is random, Carr added.

“The 12 per cent of sexual assaults that were unknown are what we would call random, but they’re more the groping on a bus or in a park type of sexual assault – not that those aren’t bad,” Carr said.

Three people have been charged in connection with five of the random sexual assaults committed in the second quarter, according to the RCMP.

Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner, who campaigned on a tough-on-crime agenda, was not available to comment Friday.

Deputy Mayor Bruce Hayne said the city is taking its crime problem seriously, noting the 100 new Mounties the federal government has promised to provide to help tackle it head on.

“We are making it our number one issue,” Hayne said. “That’s why we’ve made an unprecedented investment in public safety.”

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Tom Popyk