Gangs attack Port-au-prince suburbs
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Armed gangs launched new attacks in the suburbs of Portau-prince on Wednesday, with heavy gunfire echoing across once-peaceful communities near the Haitian capital.
Associated Press journalists reported seeing at least five bodies in and around the suburbs, and gangs blocked the entrances to some areas.
People in the communities under fire called radio stations pleading for help from Haiti’s national police force, which remains understaffed and outmatched by the gangs. Among the communities targeted in the pre-dawn hours were Pétion-ville, Meyotte, Diègue and Métivier.
“When I woke up to go to work, I found I could not leave because the neighborhood was in the hand of the bandits,” said Samuel Orelus.
“They were about 30 men with heavy weapons. If the neighborhood had mobilized, we could have destroyed them, but they were heavily armed, and there was nothing we could do.”
By Wednesday afternoon, another victim had been reported: a police officer killed in broad daylight in a Port-au-prince neighborhood known as Delmas 72, according to the SYNAPOHA police union.
As the attacks continued, the
U.S. State Department announced Wednesday that it had completed its first evacuation of American citizens from Port-au-prince. More than 15 Americans were airlifted to neighboring Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.
More than 30 U.S. citizens will be able to leave Port-au-prince daily aboard the U.S. government-organized helicopter flights, the agency said. “We will continue to monitor demand from U.S. citizens for assistance in departing Haiti on a real-time basis,” the department said.
On Sunday, the agency evacuated more than 30 U.S. citizens from the coastal city of Caphaitien to Miami International Airport.