Haiti gang-violence escalates

By Linda Bordoni

The suspected gang members were in police custody when the infuriated mob got hold of them at a traffic stop, beat them ferociously and set them alight with petrol-soaked tires.

The vigilante violence episode took place in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince where it is estimated that criminal gangs now control an estimated 60 per cent of the city. A reality that has become entrenched since the assassination of President Jovenal Moise in July 2021.

A statement by Haiti National Police said that officers stopped and searched a minibus for contraband, and had confiscated weapons from suspects before they were "unfortunately lynched by members of the population."

The situation in the capital is tense, and shots could reportedly be heard ringing out from several neighbourhoods, and witnesses said that police had killed six gang suspects in a firefight and that local residents dragged the bodies from where they fell to a central location and set them on fire.

Prime Minster Ariel Henry tweeted that his government expresses its sympathy to the police officers injured in recent operations.

Authorities said the gang involved in the vigilante violence is accused of helping kidnap 17 U.S. missionaries in October 2021 and is linked to the assassination of Moïse. (Source AP).