Dozens Dead In Wave Of Gang Violence In Haiti Capital

Multiple people are dead and injured after another attack of  gang violence in Haiti’s largest slum

Aid workers are saying the situation is getting out of control

Multiple people are dead and injured after another attack of  gang violence in Haiti’s largest slum resulting in their economy and environmental state declining further.

According to the Miami Herald , gunshots were heard across neighborhoods with 300,000 living in the area, on Tuesday morning. The number of people who have been killed is still unclear. However interim mayor of Cité Soleil, Joël Janéus, predicted at least 52 people were killed and 110 injured.

“It’s grave. It’s difficult for the population,” Janéus told the Herald. “All of the areas are blocked. Water can’t come, food can’t come. There are a lot of problems here and people are dying of hunger because they can’t get out. A lot of people are victims. A lot of people are injured, a lot of people are in the hospital and they can’t go on with their activities.”

Jean-Gilbert Ndong, who works for the french medical charity Doctors Without Borders told the newspaper that the situation is difficult in an area of Cité Soleil called Brooklyn due to roads being blocked for the citizens with no access to food, electricity or health facilities .

“This population is really stuck and cannot move out,” he said. “We are making an appeal to everyone to allow for a humanitarian corridor to provide medical care.”

Many more civilians are in need of help and Ndong and his medical charity has put in the effort to give the area their aid. Doctors Without Borders, with the help of two foreign priests, has evacuated 10 injured civilians who are suffering, and 60 gunshot victims from gunshot wounds thus far.

The Herald reported a new set of armed gangs called the “G-pèp-la”  had conflict with a rival G-9 gang federation.

Based on an investigation by the National Human Rights Defense Network, the G-9 gang federation attacked Cité Soleil at 3 am Thursday with the intent of usurping another gangster named Jean Pierre, and acquiring control of the area. Using heavy machinery, they destroyed homes on behalf of Chérizier’s federation, joining forces with Chérizier to accomplish this.

Jean-Martin Bauer, a country director for the United Nations’ World Food Program, stepped up to speak at the World Food Program conference on how the situation between the rivalry was “out of control.” Meanwhile 1 million people in the capital Port-au-Prince are suffering from intense hunger and the situation isn’t getting better for them.

“People are not able to work, people are not able to sell their produce and at the same time food prices are increasing,” Bauer says. “These are two phenomena that compound each other and Haiti is an import-dependent country. It’s really at the forefront of what’s going on.”

Humanitarian aid workers are transported around the country by helicopters used by the World Food Program. Over 2,200 tons of food have been delivered by the company since April using a vessel that transports food trucks, but even that is becoming a threat.

“We are still able to deliver. It’s just become more complicated, and more expensive and we are taking a high level of risk.”