Haiti: release of the last 12 foreigners kidnapped in October

In this file photo taken on October 22, 2021, a sign can be found outside Christian Aid Ministries in Titanyen, Haiti.

- The other 12 of the 17 North Americans kidnapped in Haiti in October have been released, police said on December 16, 2021, after weeks of negotiations with the "400 Mawozo", one of the most powerful criminal gangs in the country. Haiti.

AFP - RICARDO ARDUENGO

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In Haiti, release this Thursday December of the last 12 foreigners taken hostage by a gang two months ago with their families, 11 Americans and a Canadian.

In all, 17 people were abducted in October.

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Two months ago to the day twelve adults and five children, including a baby, were kidnapped in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince - 16 Americans and one Canadian.

They belonged to a religious congregation, Christian Aid Ministries, based in the United States, and were returning from an orphanage located 30 kilometers east of the Haitian capital - in an area considered very dangerous.

The "400 Mawozo" gang, one of the most powerful in the country, demanded 17 million dollars for their release.

At the end of October, in a video, the leader of the gang

.

But a month after the releases began, slowly, first two people at the end of November, then three at the beginning of December.

The United States had said it was working with the Haitian government and Canada to secure the release of the hostages.

The last twelve have been released today.

"

" responded on its website the American religious congregation.

This is the first time that foreign hostages have been held for so long in the country.

Haitians have suffered for months a very important wave of kidnappings, due to a growing grip of armed gangs on the country.

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• Haiti