Violence Erupts as Gang Fires at Parishioners Aiming to Cleanse Haiti Community

As a big group of parishioners headed by a pastor marched into a neighborhood Saturday carrying machetes to clear the area of gang members, a strong gang opened fire on them. 

According to Marie Yolène Gilles, director of the human rights organization Fondasyon Je Klere, some persons were killed and others were injured in the attack, which was captured in real time by journalists present at the site.

She viewed online as hundreds of people from a nearby church marched through Canaan, a makeshift settlement established by survivors who lost their homes in the terrible 2010 earthquake outside Port-au-Prince.

How many individuals were murdered and injured in the attack was not immediately known. A group known only as “Jeff” is in charge of Canaan and is thought to be associated with the “5 Seconds” gang.

After President Jovenel Mose was assassinated in July 2021, gangs have gained in strength and are now thought to control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince.

Gédéon Jean, the director of Haiti’s Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, told the AP that he had also followed the incident online and intended to ask the Ministry of Justice to launch an investigation.

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Gang-Pastor Confrontation

When the pastor “engaged a group of people and put them in a situation like this,” he charged, the pastor was negligent.

The gang members with assault guns were more than a match for the parishioners brandishing machetes and shouting, “Free Canaan!” A message left in Haiti for a National Police spokesperson went unanswered.

According to the most recent United Nations figures, more than 2,400 persons were reported dead in Haiti between January 1 and August 15, more than 950 were kidnapped, and another 902 were injured.

Haitians created the “bwa kale” violent movement, which targets alleged gang members, in April because they were fed up with the rise in gang violence. According to the U.N., more than 350 people have died since the rebellion started.

To stop gang violence, the Haitian government asked for the rapid dispatch of a foreign armed force in October.

Kenya’s government has offered to command a multinational force, and a group of senior government representatives from the eastern African nation recently traveled to Haiti as part of a reconnaissance mission.

The U.S. announced earlier this month that it will propose a resolution to the U.N. Security Council allowing Kenya to carry out such a move.

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Source: MSN