(6 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Port-au-Prince, Haiti – 5 December 2024
1. Kenyan police officer firing automatic assault rifle
2. Various of Kenyan police officers on rooftop exchanging fire with gangs
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dickson Onsarigo, Chief Inspector of Kenyan Police:
“What we have here is the Viv Ansanm, which is coordinated by ‘Barbecue’ (Viv Ansanm gang, led by Jimmy Chérizier). His residence is around here around 700 meters away.”
4. Various of Kenyan officers moving around rooftop and shooting
5. Various of Kenyan police officers walking inside building, pointing rifles, UPSOUND gunshots from outside
6. Kenyan officers inside armoured vehicle
7. Kenyan officer shooting from hole from inside vehicle
8. Exterior of Kenyan base with guards and sandbags
9. Godfrey Otunge, Kenyan Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMSS) during interview
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Godfrey Otunge, Kenyan Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMSS):
“Before Christmas, I’m now fully going to embark on the (inaudible) operation, and that’s the second phase. That’s why I”m saying that, the days are numbered for the gangs. It’s either you surrender to the authorities, the Haitian government, or we are coming for you. Because we are not going to sleep; we are not going to sit; we will be out there day and night.”
11. Wide of house with smoke rising, UPSOUND gunfire
12. Various of Kenyan police officers inside armoured vehicle
STORYLINE:
Kenyan police exchanged fire with gangs in Port-au-Prince on Thursday while establishing control of a building in an area of the capital controlled by the Viv Ansanm gang, led by Jimmy Chérizier, also known as Barbecue.
The building, which used to house offices of the Haitian National Police, was evacuated soon after Barbecue’s gang took control of the entire neighborhood of Delmas 2, three years ago.
Late November, Kenyan officers of the U.N.-backed Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) regained control of the building but remain under constant fire from Viv Ansanm gang members who are encroached in Delmas 2, and only a few meters away from the home of the notorious gang leader, Chérizier.
When Kenyan police arrived in Haiti as part of a U.N.-backed mission earlier this year to tackle gang violence, hopes were high.
However, 400 Kenyan police officers and understaffed police departments lack funding and personnel, and gangs now control 85% of the capital.
The crisis has only deepened since the international policing contingent arrived. The main international airport closed for the second time this year after gangs opened fire on commercial flights in mid-November, striking a flight attendant.
Gunmen also are attacking once-peaceful communities to try and seize control of the entire capital, taking advantage of political infighting that led to the abrupt dismissal of the prime minister earlier this month.
Every day, as Kenyans patrol the streets of the capital in armored vehicles, they face attacks from various gangs in different areas city.
In a recent statement, the Kenyan-led mission said it was “cognizant of the road ahead that is fraught with challenges.”
But it noted that ongoing joint patrols and operations have secured certain communities and forced gangs to change the way they operate.
Godfrey Otunge, Kenyan Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission said in an interview with The Associated Press that phase two of the operation would start before Christmas.
AP Video shot by Pierre Luxama
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/0185b774b6494d56a9565f52a7966b4a
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in December 11, 2024, 6:04 am.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
