PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Gangs trying to seize full control of Haiti ‘s capital have killed at least four soldiers and four armed civilians who worked with law enforcement to protect their communities, an official said Thursday.
Lionel Lazarre, spokesman for Haiti’s National Police, told Radio Caraïbes that two soldiers and four civilians were killed in Kenscoff, a once peaceful community on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Two other soldiers and an undetermined number of civilians were killed in the community of Pacot inside the capital, he said.
On Wednesday night, the government said that at least four police officers and armed civilians from the community of Canapé-Vert, one of the few neighborhoods not controlled by gangs, were killed in the attacks.
In videos posted on social media, gunmen are seen mutilating several bodies and picking up severed heads as trophies, saying, “We got the dogs.”
Haiti’s transitional presidential council and the prime minister’s office condemned the attacks in separate statements and said that multiple people were injured.
“The government reaffirms that the fight against insecurity remains its top priority,” the office said.
Gangs that control at least 85% of Port-au-Prince have launched recent attacks on previously peaceful areas that police and armed residents are trying to protect.
More than 260 people were killed in attacks on Kenscoff and Carrefour earlier this year, according to the U.N. political mission in Haiti.
Haitian police are working alongside a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police to repel gangs, although they have struggled in their efforts. The mission is underfunded and only has some 1,000 personnel out of the 2,500 envisioned.
On Monday, the top U.N. official in Haiti told the U.N. Security Council that escalating gang violence is likely to lead the Caribbean nation to “a point of no return.” María Isabel Salvador warned that “Haiti could face total chaos” without increased funding and support for the multinational force.
More than 5,600 people were killed in Haiti last year, with gang violence leaving more than one million people homeless. I n February and March alone, 1,086 people were killed and 383 injured, according to the U.N.
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