UNITED NATIONS, April 29 (NNN-Xinhua) — UN humanitarians on Thursday voiced concern over gang violence in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
The situation in Port-au-Prince around Clercine, in the northeastern area of the capital, is deteriorating significantly after violent clashes between two gangs on Sunday, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Fighting between the two gangs killed about 20 civilians and the displacement of hundreds of people, it said.
“Preliminary information indicates that at least 20 civilians, including several children, were killed and several houses looted and burned,” the office said. “Businesses and schools in the affected area closed.”
The confrontation site is a few hundred meters north of Toussaint Louverture International Airport.
The humanitarians said the situation remains very volatile, with a significant risk of further population displacement and reduction in humanitarian access to the north of the country.
OCHA said that Haiti’s Civil Protection Directorate set up a coordination committee of UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations. The civil protection agency and a UN team traveled to Clercine to meet local authorities and displaced people.
The humanitarians said they identified food, emergency health care, shelter, and protection as critical needs for residents. Local authorities distributed hot meals to displaced people.
Doctors Without Borders received the wounded in Tabarre hospitals, OCHA said. The International Organization for Migration has set up a hotline for immediate psychosocial assistance and referral to appropriate institutions. — NNN-XINHUA
