At least two women were killed, one eight months pregnant, while over 5,000 people were displaced as gangs launched attacks in the Haitian capital, the country’s Civil Protection agency said Monday.
Gang violence a long-standing issue in Haiti, has intensified in recent months, worsening the country's humanitarian, security, and political crises.
The killings occurred in the southern Solino district, where several gangs from the "Viv Ansanm" coalition attacked homes, the report said. Both women were killed inside their residences.
Houses and vehicles were set ablaze, with thick columns of smoke visible from the neighborhood. Attacks have spread across several districts in Port-au-Prince since early October, with attacks continuing on Monday afternoon.
In another incident, gangs attacked a school in the commune of L'Estere, where they killed a parent and wounded several schoolchildren. Earlier this month, a gang attack on the town of Pont-Sonde left at least 109 people dead and over 40 injured.
Despite the presence of a U.N.-backed multi-national mission led by Kenya to support the overwhelmed Haitian police, gangs control 80% of Port-au-Prince and the country's main roads.
This mission which began this summer, is far from reaching its initial target of 2,500 police officers.
Since January, at least 3,661 people have been killed in Haiti, according to a figure quoted at the end of September by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Violence and the humanitarian situation have forced more than 700,000 people, half of them children, to flee their homes, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported.
