Haitian gangs have advanced in Port-au-Prince, according to a UN official, as political parties work to create a transition government as new bloodshed erupts in the unstable Caribbean nation.
Police at Port-au-On Thursday, Prince announced that a prominent gang leader, Ernst Julme, also known as Ti Greg, was killed in a shootout with security personnel. Julme commanded the Delmas 95 gang.
Ulrika Richardson, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Haiti, told a news conference via video link that daily life has been marked by roadblocks and the sound of gunshots, describing “enormous” numbers of people displaced as gangs “take over” districts in the capital.
Meanwhile, authorities are straining since armed groups have just “advanced into new areas of the capital,” Richardson told reporters.
“We see people coming in with gunshot wounds from many areas around Port-au-Prince.”
Richardson’s remarks came as gunfire rang out in Port-au-Prince and the hilly nearby area of Petionville on Thursday afternoon, according to residents.
The day before, in the village of Lascahobas, about 80 kilometers from the capital, Haitian police reported an accused gang member was kidnapped and lynched.
The country has been rocked by violence since late February, when the country’s gangs launched a concerted operation, seizing a jail and releasing thousands of convicts while demanding that Prime Minister Ariel Henry resign.
Henry, who was stranded in Puerto Rico after the unrest shut down the main airport, has agreed to step aside and allow for the formation of an interim government.
Despite pressure from surrounding Caribbean countries and the United States, negotiations have progressed slowly.
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