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PORT-au-Prince, April 26 (AP) – Residents armed with machetes, bottles and rocks fought back against an invading gang on the hilly outskirts of Haiti’s capital Tuesday, a day after a group burned 13 suspected suspects in a horrific vigilante operation. Gangster violence.
Tired of relying on an understaffed police station, many in Port-au-Prince’s Canape Vert neighborhood spent the night on rooftops and patrolled their neighborhood’s entrance, with “Down with the Gangs” spray-painted on their trucks. ”
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“We’re planning to fight these savages and keep our communities free from these savages,” mechanic Jeff Ezequiel, 37, told The Associated Press.
“People are tired and frustrated.”
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The makeshift brigade is the latest example of Haitians increasingly trying to fight gangs on their own.
Elsewhere in Port-au-Prince and the central Artibonite region were hit by severe gang violence earlier this year, with the lynching of several suspected gang members.
So far, Canape Vert and nearby Turgeau — home to a major hotel chain and a local university — have largely avoided the turmoil of President Jovenel Moïse since July 2021. Gang-fueled violence has engulfed the capital and surrounding areas since the assassination.
The United Nations estimates gangs now control up to 80 percent of Port-au-Prince.
A U.N. Security Council report released Tuesday said “the expansion of gangs into areas previously considered safe … remains a concern”.
Reported killings between January and March 31 increased by more than 20% compared with the last quarter of 2022, and 637 kidnappings have been reported so far this year, an increase of 63 compared to the last three months of 2022, the report said. % .
Meanwhile, the Haitian National Police has 1.2 officers for every 1,000 residents in a country of more than 11 million people.
“Police remain under-resourced and face overwhelming difficulties in preventing gangs from tightening their grip on the country,” the UN report said.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the immediate deployment of an international armed force to Haiti – a request first made by Haiti’s prime minister last October – and warned in a report that the violence in Port-au-Prince “at a comparable level” to countries in armed conflict. “
More than 130,000 Haitians have fled their communities as gangs break into their homes, killing and raping residents to take control of more territory, and nearly 40 percent of them now live in makeshift shelters lacking basic services, according to the United Nations
But on Tuesday, many people in Canape Vert returned home after temporarily fleeing the area after 13 suspected gang members were killed on Monday.
“There was nowhere to run,” said Samuel, 25, who declined to give his last name for fear of being killed.
“We have to stand up and fight back. If there must be a war, I will be involved because the authorities are not taking responsibility and letting everyone die under their noses.”
On Tuesday, he walked home with other residents, including Sandra Jenty, 26, who lost control of her bladder after hiding under her bed with her 4-year-old son on Monday night after she was in the Shots rang out in the neighborhood and she fled at dawn.
“It felt like they were shooting in my house,” she said.
“I am not harmed by the grace of God.”
She held her son as they walked back to their house, and Jenty trusted the makeshift community protection team to protect them.
Meanwhile, authorities removed the last remains of suspected gang members, who had been stoned and clubbed nearby and burned to death by tires soaked in gasoline, with one body dragged along a sidewalk into a van.
At a checkpoint in Turgeau, a dozen masked men armed with machetes stood guard.
They declined to speak to The Associated Press and warned against photographing them.
Resident Reynald Jean Pierre, 30, said he supported the movement, adding that he was “willing to die” to protect his community from gangs.
“People are being kidnapped, people are being raped, people are being blackmailed, but we’re not going to let it happen on our watch,” he said.
“We have no other home to go to.”
Haitian police estimate there are seven main gang alliances and about 200 affiliated groups in the country, the UN said.
Residents believe the 13 suspected gang members shot dead by the crowd on Monday were members of the Kraze Barye gang, which means “break down walls.”
Ezequiel dismissed concerns that gangs may have retaliated against Monday’s killing, adding that he was saddened by the killing of the young men, whom he said could have done something good for society.
“We won the battle, but the war is not over,” he said.
“We’re going to keep looking for the gang, and if they’re still hiding, we’re going to catch them and make sure they don’t leave alive.” (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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