Ottawa is warning Canadians not to travel to a city in northern Mexico that has seen a rising tide of violence, which recently claimed the lives of an American couple with ties to the local U.S. consulate.

The Foreign Affairs website advises Canadians to avoid travelling to the border city of Ciudad Juarez unless it is absolutely necessary, citing "escalating violence linked to drug trafficking."

"Travellers are advised to reconsider their need to travel to Ciudad Juarez and should only do so if it is absolutely necessary," the warning reads on the government website.

The warning came after two Americans -- 35-year-old Lesley Enriquez and her 34-year-old husband, Arthur Redelfs -- were shot dead last weekend near the Santa Fe International Bridge, which links Ciudad Juarez with the border town of El Paso, Tex.

The couple were reportedly travelling home from a children's party in their SUV when they were killed. Their one-year-old baby survived the attack. Mexican officials said Enriquez was pregnant at the time of her death.

The killings remain under investigation, though authorities suspect drug gangsters are responsible. Enriquez worked as an assistant in the Ciudad Juarez consulate's visa section, though it is unclear if that was a motive for the attack that claimed her life.

The U.S. State Department is also warning American citizens to "delay unnecessary travel" to parts of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua states as a result of the recent violence.

It considers Ciudad Juarez to be of "special concern" for American tourists who have been victims of violence in the Chihuahua state city.

The state department website reports that "more than 2,600 people" were killed in Ciudad Juarez in 2009, a year in which more than 16,000 car thefts and 1,900 carjackings were reported.

In January, Mexico announced that it would send 2,000 federal police officers to Ciudad Juarez to assist in the crack down on local drug traffickers. The troop boost came in addition to local police and another 6,000 troops already involved in the same type of operations.

With files from The Associated Press