Mexico says murdered students were mistaken for rival gang

Relatives hold up posters of the 43 missing students of the Ayotzinapa Teacher Training College during a protest outside the federal court in Chilpancingo, in the Mexican state of Guerrero, January 19, 2015. REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The 43 Mexican students who disappeared four months ago were murdered on the orders of a drug cartel who mistook them for members of a rival gang, the government said on Tuesday, finally confirming the deaths of the trainee teachers.

Their disappearance on the night of Sept. 26 in the southwestern city of Iguala led to massive street protests in Mexico and international condemnation of its security situation, embarrassing President Enrique Pena Nieto and plunging his administration into its biggest crisis.