Haiti suspected gang members set on fire

FE Team | Published: March 21, 2024 23:35:34

A man holds a machete while walking near a pile of burning mattresses and the remains of the motorcycle of suspected gang leader Makandal who was killed Wednesday — Reuters

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Mar 21 (Reuters): Suspected gang members were killed during an attack on the Petion-Ville neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of Haiti's capital, as a clash with police and locals pointed to a resurgence of vigilante justice while the state remains absent.
The latest outburst of violence comes as the political future of the crisis-racked Caribbean island nation hangs in limbo.
A Reuters reporter saw two suspected gang members including a leader known as Makandal killed and set on fire. Footage seen by Reuters earlier showed the bodies lying and being dragged on the street, one man with his hands cut off.
Makandal's family home was also set on fire. Radio RFM reported citing police sources that the local population had been involved in a shootout in Petion-Ville, located on the southern edge of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Almost a year ago, a group of Port-au-Prince residents lynched and set fire to around a dozen men believed to be gang members launching what became known as the Bwa Kale movement, a vigilante justice movement which rights groups say has sometimes been carried out with members of Haiti's police.