Shootings between rival gangs have killed more than 50 people since Friday near Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, a local mayor said on Monday, amid an ongoing escalation of violence in the Caribbean nation.
Such acts in the impoverished suburb of Cite Soleil also left more than 100 injured, according to Cite Soleil Mayor Joel Janeus, adding that 50 of them are in critical condition.
“People who were crouching during the shootings, the bullets went through their roofs and killed them,” Janeus said in a telephone interview. “People who are trying to flee the (area) are hit by bullets,” she added.
Gangs also blocked access to the Varreux fuel terminal, Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported.
The West Indies Group, a Haitian conglomerate that owns the Varreux terminal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s office also did not respond to the report’s contacts.
The violence appears to be a result of the clash between the G9 and GPEP gangs.
Inter-group violence has increased since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated a year ago in a nighttime operation, creating a political vacuum and prompting criminal groups to expand their control of the country’s territory.
Kidnappings have also increased since then and much of the country is now ruled by gangs.
In May, human rights activists highlighted that clashes between rivals Chen Mechan and 400 Mawozo left 148 dead, some of whom were killed with machetes or when their homes were set on fire.
Moise’s death completed one year on Thursday (7), and no one has been charged by judicial authorities.
Source: CNN Brasil

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