More than 10,000 people in Haiti have been internally displaced in the last week, as armed gangs operating in the capitalPort-au-Prince, and their surrounding areas have increased attacks in areas they do not yet control, according to estimates from the UN migration agency published Thursday.
The agency had said in early September that more than 700,000 people were internally displaced in the Caribbean nation, almost double the number six months earlier.
Gangs have in the last week been escalating attacks in several cities outside the capital, where much of the city and its suburbs are under the control of several violent armed groups, united under a common alliance known as Viv Ansanm.
The conflict is fueling hunger in parts of the population, as organized criminal groups seize farmland and block transport routes, while people forced to flee their homes, often to take in families or makeshift camps, They can no longer depend on stable income to buy food.
Although The UN authorized an international force to help Haitian police regain control of the gangs, the mission has been under-resourced and produced few results.
Haiti’s leadership has requested that the force become a formal peacekeeping mission to bolster resources, an initiative that was blocked last month by China and Russia.
Gangs that previously attacked national police, civil self-defense groups and state infrastructure have also begun attacking foreign vehicles.
The US embassy in Haiti told Reuters that on Monday two of its armored vehicles had been attacked by gang gunfire.
One was hit by multiple gunshots, although no one was injured.
A UN helicopter with 18 people on board was also attacked and hit by multiple gunshots on Thursday, although there were no injuries, the UN said. Miami Herald. The U.N. office in Haiti did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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