Haiti gangs try to seize capital as police mission struggles

Gangs continue to fight to to take over communities in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

The neighborhood of Solino has been under attack since last week with residents fleeing their homes.

Gun shots could still be heard in a busy street of the capital on Friday with residents walking by fast while tightly holding the hands of their children going to and from school.

The attack of Solino was claimed by a gang coalition known as “Viv Ansanm.

Viv Ansanm, which means “Living Together,” formed in September 2023, creating a coalition between two large gang federations that were enemies. It was responsible for launching large-scale attacks on critical government infrastructure starting in February, eventually leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Marie Yolenne Gilles, the director of Haitian human rights NGO Fondacion Je Kler said the gangs are becoming more and more “arrogant” in their objective to take control.

On Friday , at least one U.S. airline on Friday temporarily canceled flights to Haiti’s capital after gang members opened fire and hit a U.N. helicopter flying near the country’s main airport.

Spirit Airlines said in a statement to The Associated Press that its daily flight from Fort Lauderdale to Port-au-Prince has been suspended through Sunday “for the safety of the passengers”.

The surge of gang violence across Haiti’s capital and beyond in recent days raised concerns that the security mission led by Kenyan police is struggling to contain the violence.

U.S. and Haitian officials have said the Kenyan mission lacks personnel and funding and have requested that it be replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping mission. Peacekeeping missions are deeply unpopular in Haiti.

The newly appointed leader of Haiti’s transitional presidential council , Leslie Voltaire held a press conference Friday accompanied by the other members of the council to address the latest surge of violence.

Voltaire vowed that the gangs would be punished “They will receive the response from the forces of order” said the council president.

Edna Gelin had to flee with her two children and her elderly mother from Solino. In tears she described that “bullets were raining down in her courtyard and hitting the zinc roof of my house

According to the U.N, the situation has worsened in the last three months, with more than 700,000 people now displaced in the country and the political process facing “significant challenges”. said the report.

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