Haitian police and civilians kill 28 gang members

(CLO) The Haitian National Police (PNH) announced that 28 gang suspects were killed by security forces and militia groups in the latest series of clashes in the capital Port-au-Prince.

Tuesday’s attack, which targeted the affluent suburb of Petion-Ville, was publicly called for on social media by Jimmy Cherizier, a former elite police officer and current leader of the Viv Ansanm (“Together” in Haitian Creole) gang alliance.

Journalists take cover after a gun battle between gangs and police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday, November 11. Photo: Odelyn Joseph/AP

The attack on Petion-Ville follows the collapse of Haiti's interim government last week and more than three years of unrest since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021.

Cherizier, also known by his nickname “Barbecue,” has called on the country’s current ruling body, the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT), to resign. “The Viv Ansan coalition will use all means to achieve its goal of forcing the CPT to leave,” Cherizier said on Monday.

According to police, around 2 a.m. Tuesday (local time), two vehicles carrying gang members attempted to enter Petion-Ville. One vehicle is believed to have blocked the main road, a common tactic of gangs in expanding control to other areas.

Reports from the scene described horrific scenes, with militia groups beheading, dismembering and burning the bodies of gang members with rubber tires. Brutal reprisals from militia groups have become a disturbing phenomenon in the fight against the brutal gangs that control much of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

Last year, dozens of gang suspects were also stoned and burned alive in Port-au-Prince.

Violence by criminal gangs has forced thousands of people to flee their homes. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 20,000 people were forced to flee in the capital over the weekend alone, bringing the total number of internally displaced people to more than 700,000 as of September.

Gang control means that only about 20% of the Haitian capital is accessible to humanitarian organizations. “Port-au-Prince’s isolation is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis,” warned Gregoire Goodstein, IOM’s Haiti team leader. “Without immediate international support, the suffering will increase exponentially.”

A 400-strong UN-backed international police force, mainly from Kenya, has been deployed since June to tackle the gangs, but the efforts have so far had little effect.

The United Nations will meet on November 22 to discuss the Haitian interim government's request to upgrade the police mission to a formal peacekeeping force.

Meanwhile, experts fear that if the situation is not resolved soon, Haiti will continue to sink deeper into chaos, with increasingly dire humanitarian and security consequences.

Cao Phong (according to AP, aljazeera)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nhung-canh-tuong-kinh-hoang-khi-28-thanh-vien-bang-dang-haiti-bi-tieu-diet-post322081.html