Haitian gangs’ attacks kill about 12 in upscale capital neighborhoods
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Gangs attacked two upscale neighborhoods in Haiti’s capital early Monday in a rampage that left at least a dozen people dead in surrounding areas.
Gunmen looted homes in the communities of Laboule and Thomassin before sunrise, forcing residents to flee as some called radio stations pleading for police. The neighborhoods had remained largely peaceful despite a surge in violent gang attacks across Port-auPrince that began Feb. 29.
An Associated Press photographer saw the bodies of at least 12 men strewn on the streets of Pétionville, just below the mountainous communities of Laboule and Thomassin.
Crowds began gathering around the victims. One was lying face up on the street surrounded by a scattered deck of cards and another found face down inside a pickup truck that operates as a taxi. A woman at one of the scenes collapsed and had to be held by others after learning that a relative of hers was killed.
“Abuse! This is abuse!” cried out one Haitian man who did not want to be identified as he raised his arms and stood near one of the victims. “People of Haiti! Wake up!”
An ambulance arrived shortly afterward and made its way through Pétionville, collecting the victims.
“We woke up this morning to find bodies in the street,” said Douce Titi, who works at the mayor’s office. “Ours is not that kind of community. We will start working to remove those bodies before the children start walking by to go to school, and the vendors start to arrive.”
It was too late for some though. A relative of one victim hugged a boy close to his chest, with his head turned away from the scene.
The most recent attacks raised concerns that gang violence would not cease despite Prime Minister Ariel Henry announcing nearly a week ago that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created, a move that gangs had been demanding.
Gangs have long opposed Henry, saying he was never elected by the people as they blame him for deepening poverty, but critics of the gangs accuse them of trying to seize power for themselves or for unidentified Haitian politicians.
Also Monday, Haiti’s power company said four substations in the capital and elsewhere “were destroyed.” Swaths of Portau-Prince had no power.
Haiti’s government announced Sunday that it was extending a nighttime curfew through Wednesday.
Guilty in New Mexico shooting:
In New Mexico, an Afghan refugee was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder in one of three fatal shootings that shook Albuquerque’s Muslim community during summer 2022. Muhammad Syed faces life in prison for killing Aftab Hussein, 41, on July 26, 2022. He also will stand trial in the coming months in the other two slayings.
During the trial, prosecutors presented cellphone data that showed his phone was in the area when the shooting occurred, and a ballistics expert testified that casings and projectiles recovered from the scene had been fired from a rifle that was found hidden under Syed’s bed.
The three ambushstyle killings happened over several days, leaving authorities scrambling to determine if race or religion
might have been behind the crimes. It was not long before the investigation shifted away from possible hate crimes to what prosecutors described to jurors as the “willful and very deliberate” actions of another member of the Muslim community. No motive has been established.
Pakistani airstrikes targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside neighboring Afghanistan early on Monday, the foreign ministry said. The Afghan Taliban said the attacks killed at least eight people and prompted return fire from their forces.
The exchange, two days after seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing and coordinated attack in the country’s northwest, marked an escalation that is likely to further increase tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.
The Foreign Office in Islamabad confirmed the strikes, calling them
Pakistan airstrikes:
“intelligence-based antiterrorist operations in the border regions inside Afghanistan” and saying they targeted a faction of the Pakistani Taliban.
The Afghan Taliban denounced the strikes and said their forces “targeted Pakistan’s military centers along the border with heavy weapons.”
Capitol riot charge: A conservative social media influencer has been charged with storming the U.S. Capitol and passing a stolen table out of a broken window, allowing other rioters to use it as a weapon against police, according to court records unsealed Monday.
Isabella Maria DeLuca, 24, of Setauket, New York, was arrested Friday in Irvine, California, on misdemeanor charges, including theft of government property, disorderly conduct and entering a restricted area.
DeLuca, who has more than 333,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter, is a former congressional intern
who works as a media associate for The Gold Institute for International Strategy. DeLuca’s profile on the institute’s website says she served as an ambassador for the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA.
DeLuca also interned for former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, both of whom are Republicans who have supported former President Donald Trump.
Genital mutilation: An attempt to repeal a 2015 ban on female genital cutting in Gambia was sent for further committee discussions by lawmakers on Monday.
Gambian activists fear the passage of the bill would overturn years of work to better protect girls and women. The legislation was referred to a national committee for further debate and could return for a vote in the weeks and months ahead.
The procedure, which also has been called female genital mutilation, includes
the partial or full removal of external genitalia, often by traditional community practitioners with tools such as razor blades or at times by health workers. It can cause serious bleeding, death and childbirth complications but remains a widespread practice in parts of Africa.
UK-Rwanda plan: The British government hopes one last push can revive its stalled plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda. A bill to overcoming a U.K. Supreme Court block on deportation flights returns to the House of Commons on Monday and could be passed into law within days.
That would be a boost for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is facing disquiet from fellow Conservative lawmakers as the party lags in opinion polls ahead of an election due this year.
Britain and Rwanda signed a deal almost two years ago. So far, no migrant has been sent to Rwanda under the agreement.