Haiti gang ‘massacres around 180 people over witchcraft fears’
Around 180 mostly elderly people have been killed in Haiti after they were reportedly suspected of witchcraft.
Gang leader Monel “Mikano” Felix ordered the massacre in Cite Soleil – a densely populated slum in the capital Port-au-Prince – after his child became unwell, according to the National Human Rights Defence Network (RNDDH).
The boss of the Wharf Jeremie gang sought advice from a voodoo priest who accused older residents in the area of using witchcraft to harm the youngster who died on Saturday afternoon, the non-governmental organisation said.
At least 60 people were killed on Friday and 50 on Saturday in attacks involving machetes and knives, while all the victims were aged over 60, said the RNDDH.
The total number killed increased to around 180 on Monday, following a statement from the Haitian prime minister’s office.
“A red line has been crossed,” it said, adding it would “mobilise all forces to track down and annihilate” those responsible, including Felix, whom it accused of planning the attack.
RNDDH reported accounts from witnesses who said “mutilated bodies were burned in the streets, including several young individuals who were killed attempting to save residents”.
Cite Soleil, in the port area of Port-au-Prince, is among the poorest and most violent parts of Haiti.
Tight gang control, including the restriction of mobile phone use, has limited residents’ ability to share information about the massacre.
The government, struck by political infighting, has struggled to contain armed gangs’ growing power in and around the capital.
People have resorted to creating burning barricades to deter gang members from entering their neighbourhoods. File pic: AP
In October, at least 115 people were massacred in Pont-Sonde, a town around 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince.
The Gran Grif gang claimed it was retaliation for residents working with a self-defence group which was hindering their operations to secure money through road tolls.
Kenyan police have been deployed to boost security but are severely under-resourced. File pic: Reuters
The United Nations recently estimated around 300 people operated within Felix’s gang around nearby Fort Dimanche and La Saline areas of the capital.
In November 2018, La Saline was the site of the massacre of at least 71 civilians, while hundreds of homes were set on fire.
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Haiti’s authorities have requested international support to bolster security but the United Nations mission, led by the Kenyan police, is severely under-resourced.
Local leaders have since called for the mission to be converted into a UN peacekeeping force, but the plan was opposed by China and Russia in the Security Council.
Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, gave a higher figure for the number killed in Cite Soleil, suggesting 184 people had died over the weekend.
“These latest killings bring the death toll just this year in Haiti to a staggering 5,000 people,” he added.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
World
Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people waiting for aid in Khan Younis, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.
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