Bodies found in Port-au-Prince amid Haiti's escalating gang violence

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Numerous bodies were discovered on Friday morning in various neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, which has been plagued by intense violence from gangs seeking to expand their control in recent weeks.

Local media outlets are reporting on at least 12 lifeless bodies, many of them charred, that were found in the center of Port-au-Prince, in the Delmas neighborhood and in Petion-Ville, a wealthy commune on the outskirts of the capital. Authorities have confirmed that at least 30 bodies have been found in less than a week in the hills of the capital.

Several clashes between armed gangs and police forces occurred on Thursday night, resulting in the death of gang leader Ti Greg, who escaped from jail on March 2. The bodies found on Friday are reportedly of those who accompanied Ti Greg, and died in the clashes, after which they were burned by civilians. The photo of Ernst Julme alias Ti Greg, who led a gang in Delmas 95, has been circulating on social media.

For the past three weeks, Haiti’s capital has been engulfed in a wave of gang violence, causing severe food shortages, according to the United Nations. Heavily armed gangs are waging war with other armed criminal groups and the police and they have blockaded ports and laid siege to Port-au- Prince’s international airport.

Around 1.4 million Haitians are “one step away from famine,” Ulrika Richardson, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti warned. The exacerbation of violence in downtown Port-au-Prince has also caused many hospitals to close.

The heavily armed groups have been advancing into new areas of the capital, from which more than 33,000 people have fled in the last 15 days, according to the International Organization for Migration.

"The attacks and widespread insecurity are forcing more and more people to leave the capital to seek refuge in the provinces, taking the risk of traveling on roads controlled by gangs," Richardson said, describing daily tension, sounds of gunshots, sexual violence and fear rising throughout the capital.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who is stranded in Puerto Rico due to the escalation of the violence in his country, announced last week that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created. The gang attacks began Feb. 29, when Henry was in Kenya signing a deal to push for the United Nations-backed deployment of a Kenyan police force in the country.​​​​​​​