(4 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Port-au-Prince, Haiti – 3 February 2025
1. Mountain of Kenscoff, an area where gang coalition Viv Ansanm has been attacking UPSOUND heavy gunfire
2. Various of displaced Kenscoff residents in the Mayor’s office
3. SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Jean Massillon, Mayor of Kenscoff: ++Translation not verbatim++
++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 4++
"The gangs have killed, (have) snatched people, (have been) burning a lot of people. (They’re) killing. The houses are burning. The gardens of the growers are destroyed. (Gangs were) killing animals today. (It’s been) eight days (since) they attacked again."
4. Various of displaced people lining up for food at the Mayor’s office
5. Small house burning
6. Burnt out pick-up truck
7. SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Wilson Emistile, victim:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON SHOT 5-6 AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 8++
"The bandits came, they put us to sleep on the ground, they burned everything, they killed all the animals, they killed my uncle, my brother-in-law, my father. I just spent four days sleeping in the fields to hide. They even burned my cards (I use) to identify me, I did not have time to take (them)."
8. Various of National Police units
STORYLINE:
Heavily armed gangs in Haiti have attacked a neighborhood that’s home to most of the country’s elite and had been largely untouched by criminals.
Police have demanded help repelling the assault that has killed at least 40 people.
“It’s been eight days since Kenscoff has been under attack,” Mayor Jean Massillon told The Associated Press on Monday. He blamed the attack on the Viv Ansanm gang coalition, with gunmen going home to home and indiscriminately opening fire.
“As we speak, they have surrounded the area,” Massillon said as he called for reinforcements.
The dead include pastors, teachers and children, although the number is expected to be higher because authorities haven’t been able to reach certain parts of the neighborhood, which is home to many politicians and business leaders.
Many victims are working-class people who tend crops on the outskirts of the neighborhood in the foothills of a mountain range.
Gangs already control 85% of Port-au-Prince, and the United Nations secretary-general warned last month they could overrun the capital.
The assault on Kenscoff occurred days after the government and police warned about imminent attacks in the capital, but the warnings did not say where they might occur.
The attack on Kenscoff that began January 27 has left more than 1,660 people homeless, according to the International Organization for Migration on Monday.
Overall, gang violence has left more than one million people homeless across Haiti in recent years.
On Friday, one police union said the attack on Kenscoff “could have been avoided if police had good equipment” including a helicopter and an all-terrain vehicle, as well as funds to gather intelligence.
“Despite these bad conditions, our policemen are making tireless sacrifices, but we cannot tolerate the negligence of the authorities on what must be done to protect their lives and the safety of the population,” the union, SPNH-17, said in a statement.
AP video by Pierre Luxama
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