Haitian gangs escalate violence and expand attacks outside the capital

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AP) — Gangs in Haiti have escalated their violence and expanded operations outside the capital, even attacking small boats and kidnapping personnel from cargo shipping companies, the top U.N. official in the country said from New York on Tuesday

Special representative Maria Isabel Salvador told the U.N. Security Council that 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.” She said Haitians across the country continue to suffer as gang activities escalate and expand, “spreading terror and fear, overwhelming the national security apparatus” and worsening an “extremely dire” humanitarian situation.

Gangs are also attacking small boats carrying Haitians from the capital, Port-au-Prince, to other areas of the country, and they have kidnapped personnel from international cargo freight companies, forcing them to suspend service to Haiti, Salvador said. Catherine Russell, executive director of the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, told the council the “catastrophic situation” for Haiti’s children that she reported six months ago has deteriorated further. She said over 360,000 of those currently displaced are children.