At least 78 dead in gang clashes in Haiti since Saturday: UN

• At least 78 people were killed and thousands displaced as gang violence escalated in suburbs of Haiti’s capital, according to UN reports.

Clashes between rival gangs in suburbs of Haiti’s capital have killed at least 78 people and injured 66 since Saturday, according to the United Nations office in Haiti.

The violence, centered in the communes of Cité Soleil and Croix-des-Bouquets near Port-au-Prince, also left 10 civilians among the dead, including five men, four women and a young girl.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Caribbean, has been grappling with escalating gang warfare and worsening insecurity over the past two years. The latest outbreak of violence has displaced around 5,300 people, while some families remain trapped in affected neighborhoods, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Health services have also been severely disrupted. A hospital and a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) facility were forced to suspend operations and evacuate staff. MSF said it treated 40 gunshot victims in less than 12 hours before the evacuation.

The same areas have seen repeated waves of violence in recent months, including earlier incidents in March and April that displaced nearly 8,000 people. Between March 5 and May 11, at least 305 people were killed and 277 injured in the two communes, according to UN figures.

A new multinational anti-gang force is being deployed to Haiti, intended to replace a previously under-resourced mission, though only a limited contingent has arrived so far.