Latest news Police and civilians kill 28 suspected criminals in Haiti

In Haiti, police and residents of the capital Port-au-Prince have killed 28 suspected members of criminal gangs, according to the authorities. During the night, vehicles carrying gang members were stopped in two cases, a police spokesman said on Tuesday.

The police opened fire in both cases and killed ten people. Other occupants who fled were pursued and also killed by police officers and residents who had joined together in self-defense groups.

A photographer for the AFP news agency saw the bodies of suspected gang members being burned in the street.

Port-au-Prince has been caught up in a new wave of violence by the Viv Ansamn gang alliance since Monday. The alliance wants the transitional council ruling the country to resign.

Doctors Without Borders suspend activities

On Tuesday, the non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders announced that it was suspending its activities in Port-au-Prince following "violence and threats from the police". According to Doctors Without Borders, Haitian police attacked an ambulance belonging to the organization last week, killing two patients.

Police officers then repeatedly stopped the organization's vehicles and threatened staff, "including death and rape threats", explained Doctors Without Borders. In "Haiti and elsewhere, we are used to working in extremely unsafe conditions, but when even the security forces become a direct threat, we have no choice but to suspend our projects," it said.

Years of crisis

Haiti has been in a serious crisis for years, with political instability and economic hardship as well as gang violence contributing to the crisis. According to UN figures published in October, more than 1,200 people were killed in the country between July and September alone, and kidnappings and sexual violence against women and girls are commonplace.

According to UN figures, more than 700,000 people in the country of ten million inhabitants have fled within the country as a result of gang violence in the Caribbean state.

SDA