Haiti: in the face of attacks by armed bandits, calls for help multiply in Port-au-Prince

In the Canapé-Vert neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 24, 2023. AP - Odelyn Joseph

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In Port-au-Prince, the situation is complicated. Armed bandits invaded new neighborhoods. In Débussy and Turgeau, they forcibly extracted residents from their homes. Shots were heard throughout the evening of Sunday, April 23. They continued until midday between the national police and armed bandits. In all, about thirty armed individuals were killed by residents of the attacked areas, including fourteen from the Canapé-Vert area.

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With our correspondent in Port-au-Prince, Marie André Bélange

Calls for help are multiplying in the Haitian capital. In question: attacks by armed bandits, as in the Débussy district, where residents say they have experienced hell.

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At one point, I thought it was my turn to come," said Jackson, a local resident. What was I observing? I watched the bandits breaking down the barriers, grabbing people, beating them violently, looting houses, burning cars, houses too, stealing cars... All there is, I went through it with enormous stress and with fear in my stomach. So it wasn't easy. This is what I call hell.

In a sign that the level of violence continues to rise, the national police apprehended on Monday morning more than a dozen armed individuals aboard a minibus in the area of the Canapé-Vert. Individuals then targeted by residents of the area, who lynched and burned suspected gang members. In Débussy and Turgeau, about fifteen were also killed, again by residents.

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Bystanders gather around the bodies of suspected gang members who were set on fire by a mob after being arrested by police as they rode in a vehicle in the Canapé-Vert neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 24, 2023. AP - Odelyn Joseph

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• Haiti
• Criminality