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Haiti’s Port-au-Prince — Dozens of people were killed in a four-day gang battle in a violent area of Haiti’s capital. This is the latest eruption of bloodshed in a wave of violence that hits the country.
Jean Hislan Frederick, deputy mayor of the Cité Soleil district of Port-au-Prince, broke out in a clash between two rival gang members on July 8, killing at least 50 people and injuring more than 50. He said he did.
The violence began the day after the first anniversary of the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Since the murder of Moïse, violence has surged in Haiti and the government has struggled to crack down as gangs vie for territory.
Doctors Without Borders aid groups said thousands of people were trapped in Cité Soleil without drinking water, food or medical care.
The organization sought help from other humanitarian groups and urged gangs to “sparing civilians.” In a press release, three of its members said they were treating the injured in an area of Cite Soleil called Brooklyn.
“On the only way to Brooklyn, I encountered a rotting and burning corpse,” said Mumza Muhind, head of Doctors Without Borders in Haiti, in a statement. “They could be those who were killed in the middle of a clash, or those who were about to leave the shots. It’s a real battlefield. It’s not possible to estimate how many were killed.”
Local officials said the fighting involved rival gangs known as G9 and G-Pep.
G9 is a gang coalition, also known as the G9 Family and Allies, led by former police officer Jimmy Cherizier.
Known as the “barbecue,” Cerizier has been associated with the slaughter in the past, and his coalition is believed to have formed an alliance with Moise’s right-wing party. After the president was murdered, he called the crime “cowardly and villainous.”
G-Pep is a gang born in Cite Soleil, allied with other armed groups around the capital of Haiti.
The United Nations World Food Program warned on Tuesday that hunger would increase in Haiti. Haiti has seen 26% inflation, high food and fuel costs, and reduced security, and anxiety in and around Port-au-Prince has worsened significantly since early May.
Agency country director Jean Martin Bauer told UN correspondents at a video press conference that 1.3 million Haitians in parts of the northwest and south were “one step away from famine.”
He said WFP is using ferries and planes to deliver the food it needs urgently as criminal groups block roads and attack trucks carrying humanitarian aid.
Bauer said he would need $ 39 million to operate in Haiti over the next six months and urged donors not to “worse” the country’s situation.
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