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La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, November 20, 2024, p. 23

Port-au-Prince. The security forces and several residents of Port-au-Prince killed 28 gang members yesterday, in the midst of an offensive by criminal groups against different neighborhoods of the capital of Haiti, the authorities indicated yesterday. Hours later, an AFP photographer saw residents burning the bodies of suspected criminals, piling tires on them and setting them on fire. At dawn, several agents intercepted a truck and a minibus transporting criminals in the center of the capital and in Petion-Ville, a wealthy area on the outskirts of the city, said Lionel Lazarre, deputy spokesman for the Haitian National Police. In both actions, the police opened fire on the gang members, killing 10 of them and forcing the others to flee, according to the same source. Uniforms and citizen self-defense groups pursued those who had escaped from the authorities and killed them. By denouncing the violence and the serious threats of the police, the group Doctors Without Borders announced the suspension of its activities in Port-au-Prince, just over a week after two of its patients were shot dead. Since last week, the Haitian capital has faced an uptick in violence by Viv Ansanm (Living Together), the alliance of gangs formed in February that managed to overthrow the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry.