Gang attack on armoured vehicle leaves 2 police officers injured and 1 driver dead

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AP):

Gunmen attacked an armoured vehicle in a community near Haiti’s capital, leaving two police officers injured and one driver dead, authorities said Monday.

The attack occurred over the weekend in the once peaceful farming community of Kenscoff, which heavily armed gangs have repeatedly raided in recent months.

Police said in a statement that gunmen threw Molotov cocktails into the armoured vehicle, which then overturned into a ravine.

Haitian police have been battling gangs alongside Kenyan police leading a UN-backed mission that began more than a year ago.

The attack comes days after gangs razed a small fishing town north of Port-au-Prince, killing at least 40 people, including women and children, according to local officials.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned that attack on Saturday, saying that he was “alarmed by the levels of violence rocking Haiti” as he urged Haitian authorities “to ensure that perpetrators of these and all other human rights abuses and violations are brought to justice.”

He also called on the international community to help the struggling multinational force with the logistics, personnel and funding it requires.

On Monday, Haiti’s government announced that it had coordinated an urgent meeting with high-ranking police officials and ordered the deployment of specialised units to towns including Labodrie, Arcahaïe and Cabaret following last week’s massacre north of the capital.

The attack in Cabaret displaced more than 2,900 people, with some 70 per cent fleeing to the nearby community of Arcahaïe, the UN’s International Organization for Migration said Monday. More than 40 per cent of those forced to flee their homes sought shelter at four schools, officials said.

Overall, gang violence has displaced a record 1.3 million people across Haiti in recent years.