Police in Haiti Battle a Gang Coalition Trying to Seize Control of the Entire Capital

Soldiers patrol amid the sound of gunshots heard in the distance, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

12:14 PM EDT, October 21, 2024

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Police on Monday clashed with gunmen trying to take over one of the few communities in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, that is not controlled by gangs.

Solino has been under attack since Thursday, with residents calling radio stations pleading for help as they fled their homes. Officers seized control of several areas as they keep pursuing gang members, Haiti’s National Police said in a statement late Sunday.

In a video posted on social media, gang members hoisted automatic weapons in the air and cheered as they claimed control over parts of Solino, warning that all those who are not part of a gang coalition known as “Viv Ansanm” will be “burned to ashes.”

Prime Minister Garry Conille held an emergency meeting Monday to talk about the attacks in Solino and other neighborhoods. He announced the immediate recall of several hundred police officers and soldiers from elite units protecting high-ranking officials so they could be redeployed to neighborhoods under assault.

“We will not cede strategic neighborhoods such as Solino and other recently liberated areas. The security of our citizens is non-negotiable,” he wrote on social platform X.

The gang coalition has raided other neighborhoods, including Tabarre 27, with the attacks forcing more than 4,200 people to flee, according to a report the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration released Monday.

More than 60% of those left homeless moved into already crowded makeshift shelters hosting others who lost their homes in recent years to gang violence. Others sought refuge at a school, a church and a health center, according to the report.

Gangs that control 80% of Port-au-Prince also have threatened journalists covering the most recent attacks, calling them out by name and ordering that they be killed.

Viv Ansanm, which means “Living Together,” formed in September 2023, creating a coalition between two large gang federations that were enemies. It was responsible for launching large-scale attacks on critical government infrastructure starting in February, eventually leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

The coalition also has unified to fight a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence in Haiti that began earlier this year.

After the coalition was formed, armed clashes between gangs fell by 78% from March to August, compared with the previous six months, according to a report published this month by ACLED, a U.S. nonprofit that collects data on violent conflicts worldwide.

“The consolidation of the Viv Ansanm alliance has enabled gangs to focus their resources on criminal activities and confrontations with security forces, rather than engaging in infighting,” it said.

The report also warned that “despite the volatile relationships among gang members, Viv Ansanm is likely to endure as long as it faces the shared threat of an international security force.”