Wave of violence

Several dead in attack on central bank in Haiti

According to an employee, security forces killed several people while fending off an attack on the central bank in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.(Bild: APA/AFP/Clarens Siffroy)

Security forces have killed several people during an attack on the central bank in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, according to an employee. "A group of criminals" attacked the central bank building on Monday, he said.

The bank's security service, the police and the armed forces fought off the attackers. Three or four criminals were killed in the attack. One of the bank's security staff was injured by a shot, the employee told the AFP news agency.

The Banque de la République d'Haïti (BRH) is one of the few institutions still operating in the capital's business district, which has been overrun by armed gangs for three weeks. On X (formerly Twitter), the bank wrote: "We would like to inform the general public that the police and the institution's security team responded professionally and efficiently to an incident that occurred yesterday near the BRH premises on Rue Pavée."

Gangs attacked wealthy neighborhoods in capital
14 bodies were found in an affluent suburb of Port-au-Prince on Monday. Residents said that the neighborhoods of Laboule and Thomassin in the suburb of Petion-Ville had been attacked by armed criminals since dawn. Eyewitnesses reported that gang members attacked a bank, a gas station and houses in the area.

80% of the capital in gang violence
Haiti is suffering from a massive wave of gang violence and the humanitarian situation in the Caribbean state has deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks. Criminal gangs now control large parts of the country and around 80 percent of the capital.

The gangs are accused of numerous crimes such as murder, rape and ransom extortion. According to UN figures, around 362,000 Haitians are displaced within the country, more than half of them children. Almost half of Haiti's approximately eleven million inhabitants are suffering from acute hunger.