Haiti gang violence kills 89, as country slides into chaos

• Cite Soleil, a poor and densely populated Port-au-Prince neighbourhood erupted in violence on July 7.
• Short-staffed and ill-equipped police did not interfere as aid agencies tried to give food and medical care.
• Doctors Without Borders: “It’s impossible to estimate how many people have been killed”.

PORT-AU-PRINCE: A week of gang violence in the capital of Haiti has killed at least 89 people, a rights group said Wednesday.

Soaring costs, fuel shortages, and gang fighting have exacerbated Port-au-Security Prince’s crisis.

Cite Soleil, a poor and densely populated Port-au-Prince neighbourhood, erupted in violence on July 7.

Short-staffed and ill-equipped police did not interfere as humanitarian agencies tried to give food and medical care to victims.

Thousands of people living in the slums that have risen up here over the past four decades had to hide inside their homes, unable to acquire food or water, and dozens of inhabitants were killed by stray bullets.

In the past week’s violence, 74 individuals were shot or stabbed, and “at least 89 people were killed and 16 others are missing, according to the National Human Rights Defense Network.

Mumuza Muhindo, leader of Doctors Without Borders’ local mission, requested militants to grant doctors safe access to Cite Soleil’s Brooklyn neighbourhood.

Muhindo said his group has operated on 15 patients a day since last Friday.

His coworkers had seen burned and rotting bodies on a road leading to Brooklyn. They might have been gang members or people trying to get away.

Muhindo: “It’s a battlefield.”  “It’s impossible to estimate how many people have been killed.”

Cite Soleil’s oil terminal supplies the capital and northern Haiti, so the clashes have devastated the region’s economy and people’s daily lives.

Gas stations in Port-au-Prince had no gas, driving up black market prices.

Wednesday, angry motorcycle cab drivers blocked off some of the city’s main roads, so people could only travel short distances within their neighbourhoods.

In the past few years, Haiti has seen a wave of mass kidnappings, including of foreigners.

Police inactivity has emboldened gangs in recent weeks. The number of kidnappings went up from 118 in May to 155 in June, according to the Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights.

Also Read

One year after Haiti president Jovenel Moise assassinated, still no answers

Haiti marks one year since president Jovenel Moise was assassinated. No mastermind...

Poverty and violence drive many Haitians to the Dominican Republic or the U.S.

Without money or visas, many boards improvised boats to reach Florida.

Many end up in Cuba or the Bahamas or are stopped at sea and returned.

More than 1,200 unauthorised migrants were transported back to Haiti in June.

When they return, they face the poverty they fled and yearly inflation of 20%, which economists fear could reach 30% due to Russia’s involvement in Ukraine.

Port-au-Prince is severely afflicted by hunger, according to the World Food Program’s Jean-Martin Bauer.

Nearly half of Haiti’s 11 million population faces food shortages, and 1.3 million face a humanitarian emergency, which precedes starvation.

Violence also hinders efforts to support them: the WFP tries to bypass Port-au-Prince to bring aid to the south and north by air and sea.

Also Read

Solomons PM Sogavare says foreign base would make it a military target

Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare says the Solomon Islands will not host...