As the government attempts to recover some control of the city, officials just announced that 28 gang members were murdered in an overnight operation in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, by police and civilian self-defense organizations.
According to Haitian National Police spokesman Lionel Lazarre, at around two in the morning, officers stopped a truck that was transporting gang members in the affluent neighborhood of Petion-Ville, and they also stopped a bus that was transporting gang members in the city center.
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Ten gang members who have contributed to the agony of the country were killed when police opened fire in both incidents. Residents who were against the gangs and their brutal control over large areas of the nation organized self-defense organizations to help them hunt down those who had escaped.
A dozen suspected gang members were stoned and burnt alive by Port-au-Prince locals last year in a graphic episode of vigilante retaliation. Despite an international force commanded by Kenya that has been sent in to assist the outgunned police, well-armed gangs still control over 80% of the city and frequently target civilians.
Viv Ansanm, a gang coalition that assisted in the removal of previous prime minister Ariel Henry in February, has resumed warfare in the Haitian capital in the past week.
On November 19, 2024, people and police-built barricades in several communities, nearly closing the streets.
Reputable gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherisier, who serves as a spokesperson for Viv Ansanm, has demanded that the country’s transitional government step down.
Cherisier recently declared using the abbreviation for the Transitional Presidential Council, “The Viv Ansanm coalition will use all its means to achieve the departure of the CPT.”
The council itself is in turmoil, consisting of unelected individuals entrusted with the challenging responsibility of guiding the nation to its first elections since 2016.
Premier Garry Conille, who was appointed in May but became caught up in a power struggle with the council, was replaced by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimewas, who was sworn in last week.
Meanwhile, the capital is still trembling with violence.
The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration issued a warning over the weekend that over 20,000 people had been evacuated in Port-au-Prince in only four days last week.
After three jetliners were shot down as they approached or departed Port-au-Prince last week, the United States prohibited all civilian flights to the country for a month, cutting off the nation’s main connections to the outside world.
