PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Police on Monday clashed with gunmen attempting to take over one of many few communities in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, that’s not managed by gangs.
Solino has been below assault since Thursday, with residents calling radio stations pleading for assist as they fled their houses.
Officers have seized management of a number of areas in Solino as they preserve pursuing gang members, Haiti’s Nationwide Police stated in an announcement late Sunday.
In a video posted on social media, gang members hoisted computerized weapons within the air and cheered as they claimed management over elements of Solino, warning that each one those that usually are not a part of a gang coalition often called “Viv Ansanm” will likely be “burned to ashes.”
The coalition additionally has attacked different neighborhoods, together with Tabarre 27, forcing lots of of residents to flee in current days.
Gangs that management 80% of Port-au-Prince even have threatened journalists masking the newest assaults, calling them out by title and ordering that they be killed.
Viv Ansanm, which implies “Dwelling Collectively,” fashioned in September 2023, making a coalition between two giant gang federations that have been enemies. It was liable for launching large-scale assaults on crucial authorities infrastructure beginning in February, ultimately resulting in the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
The coalition additionally has unified to combat a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence in Haiti that started earlier this 12 months.
After the coalition was fashioned, armed clashes between gangs fell by 78% from March to August, in contrast with the earlier six months, in line with a report printed this month by ACLED, a U.S. nonprofit that collects knowledge on violent conflicts worldwide.
“The consolidation of the Viv Ansanm alliance has enabled gangs to focus their sources on legal actions and confrontations with safety forces, slightly than partaking in infighting,” it stated.
The report additionally warned that “regardless of the unstable relationships amongst gang members, Viv Ansanm is more likely to endure so long as it faces the shared risk of a world safety drive.”
