Violence continues to rage in Haiti as gang members threaten to take over the nation’s capital city Port-au-Prince.
Gunshots continue to be heard in the neighborhood of Solino, which has been under siege since last week with residents fleeing their homes. The attack of Solino was claimed by a gang coalition known as “Viv Ansanm.
Viv Ansanm, which means “Living Together,” formed in September 2023, creating a coalition between two large gang federations that were enemies. It was responsible for launching large-scale attacks on critical government infrastructure starting in February, eventually leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Marie Yolenne Gilles, the director of Haitian human rights NGO Fondacion Je Kler said the gangs are becoming more and more “arrogant” in their objective to take control.
On Friday, at least one U.S. airline on Friday temporarily canceled flights to Haiti’s capital after gang members opened fire and hit a U.N. helicopter flying near the country’s main airport.
Spirit Airlines said in a statement to The Associated Press that its daily flight from Fort Lauderdale to Port-au-Prince has been suspended through Sunday “for the safety of the passengers”.
The surge of gang violence across Haiti’s capital and beyond in recent days raised concerns that the security mission led by Kenyan police is struggling to contain the violence.
U.S. and Haitian officials have said the Kenyan mission lacks personnel and funding and have requested that it be replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping mission. Peacekeeping missions are deeply unpopular in Haiti.
The newly appointed leader of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, Leslie Voltaire held a press conference Friday accompanied by the other members of the council to address the latest surge of violence.
Voltaire vowed that the gangs would be punished “They will receive the response from the forces of order” said the council president.
According to the U.N, the situation has worsened in the last three months, with more than 700,000 people now displaced in the country and the political process facing “significant challenges”. said the report.
FILE - Flanked by members of the G9 gang coalition, leader Jimmy Cherizier, aka Barbecue, right, talks to reporters near the perimeter wall that encloses Terminal Varreux, the port owned by the Mevs family, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 6, 2021. The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Friday, Oct. 21, 2022 demanding an immediate end to violence and criminal activity in Haiti and imposing sanctions on Barbecue, a former police officer. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)