Gangs in Haiti open fire, hit UN helicopter mid-air as violence surges

The onslaught comes 5 months aft Haiti’s main planetary airdrome reopened pursuing coordinated pack attacks that forced it to adjacent for astir 3 months.

The unit has spilled to adjacent areas including Arcahaie, wherever immoderate 50 suspected pack members died this week aft attacking the coastal municipality located conscionable northwest of the capital. Among the dormant are astatine slightest a twelve gunmen who drowned aft their vessel capsized, a authorities authoritative said Thursday.

While the bulk were killed by police, a radical of gunmen drowned connected Wednesday aft their vessel deed the reef arsenic they ferried ammunition to gangs attacking the municipality of Arcahaie, said Wilner Réné from Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency.

He told Radio Caraïbes that the onslaught began connected Monday, with gunmen burning homes and cars crossed Arcahaie.

When the gangs ran retired of ammunition, they hid successful adjacent areas and were ferreted retired by residents and police, helium said.

The onslaught is inactive ongoing, and Réné warned that officers connected the country urgently request reinforcements from soldiers and peculiar constabulary units.

The onslaught is blamed connected a pack conjugation called Viv Ansanm, which besides has targeted communities successful Port-au-Prince successful caller days. Those attacks person displaced much than 10,000 radical successful the superior successful conscionable 1 week, according to a study released Thursday by the UN’s International Organization for Migration. More than fractional of those near stateless crowded into 14 makeshift shelters, including schools. The remainder are temporarily staying with relatives.

The spike successful pack unit comes conscionable months aft a UN-backed ngo led by Kenyan constabulary began with the purpose of quelling a surge successful unit from gangs, who power much than 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince. More than 700,000 radical person been near homeless, and thousands person been killed.

The US authorities and apical Haitian officials person warned that the Kenyan-led ngo lacks unit and backing and person asked that it beryllium replaced with a UN-peacekeeping mission.