Gang coalition in Haiti spreads violence to Port-au-Prince neighborhood and sets houses on fire

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A gang coalition stepped up its attacks Saturday on one of the few communities in the Haitian capital not under the control of criminal groups, in an effort to take it over.

After a week of clashes with the police in Port-au-Prince’s Solino neighborhood, members of the Viv Ansanm gang coalition attacked again and set fire to several houses, while the national police union warned that the area was almost under complete control of the gunmen.

As morning broke on Saturday, social media images showed the neighborhood engulfed in smoke and flames. Many people were seen leaving the area with whatever they could carry. Not far from the Solino police base, security forces and armed individuals exchanged fire.

“Solino and Nazon almost lost!” SPNH-17, a national police union, said Saturday morning X. It also demanded the authorities’ resignation. Nazon, another neighborhood near Solino, was also attacked.

Viv Ansanm, meaning ‘Living Together’, was formed in September 2023 as a coalition of two gang federations that were previously enemies. It was responsible for several attacks on critical government infrastructure in February, which ultimately led to the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

The gangs will also be discussed on Thursday opened fire and hit a UN helicopterforcing it to make an emergency landing in Port-au-Prince, with a US airline temporarily canceling flights to the capital on Friday. Since last week, Solino residents have been calling radio stations pleading for help as they fled their homes.

In Solino, Garry Jean-Joseph, 33, blamed police for the ongoing violence. “I left with nothing,” he said. “The people of Solino do not understand the conspiracy of the police officers and the Live Together (Viv Ansanm) soldiers last night.”

The resident described how at 2 a.m. a police officer in an armored car told residents to go home and that they would secure the neighborhood. Shortly afterwards, however, residents could hear gangs invading. “The police delivered Solino,” he added.

Some officers in Haiti’s National Police have long been accused of corruption and collaborating with gangs.

The attacks have displaced more than 10,000 people in the capital in just one week, according to a report released Thursday by the UN’s International Organization for Migration. More than half of the homeless were housed in fourteen makeshift shelters, including schools. The rest are temporarily staying with family.

Gangs control 80% of Port-au-Princealthough communities like Solino have fought against attempts by armed men to seize power. As gang violence increases in Haiti’s capital and beyond in recent days, concerns have been raised that: UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police has difficulty keeping the unrest under control. Thousands of people have been killed or injured this year, and more than 700,000 people have been left homeless in recent years.

U.S. and Haitian officials, including Haiti’s interim president Leslie Voltaire, have said the Kenyan mission lacks staff and funding and have called for its replacement with a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

Earlier this year, coordinated gang attacks forced the government to close Haiti’s main international airport for almost three months.