Exclusive report from Haiti: Inside the brutal war between gangs and police in Port-au-Prince

[Music] battle weary but determined these Haitian police officers head out in their armored vehicle already riddled with bullet marks most of the time their enemy The Gang are invisible hidden in the ruins okay okay okay not long afterwards the police vehicle is hit by incoming fire every day and night this Elite unit of Haiti’s police are out on patrol trying to push back the powerful Coalition of gangs which have brought hai’s Capital to its knees opposite them gangs who thrived off kidnappings extortion and smuggling they used to battle for territory but in recent months they’ve United forces to take on the police and the state the spokesman of the gang’s Alliance is this former police officer accused of involvement in massacres Jimmy shizer AKA barbecue is reputed to have burned his victims alive as a gang spokesman he oscillates between talk of Revolution and threats he vows there’ll be no peace without some kind of unspecified deal which includes gangs Mass displacement assassinations police stations attacked and burned down more than 80% of Haiti’s capital is today controlled by gangs the police are short staffed and outgunned they’re calling for International Help most of the time there’s stuck inside their armored vehicles and one officer tells us they consider anyone in sight here as a potential B it in the gang’s wake follow the looters even Haiti’s main hospital has been ransacked nearby we find a handful of residents who incredibly refuse to flee we got they’re worried by the police vehicle at the End of the Street this man hoped to cross through the neighborhood to be able to sell some bread but now he’s stuck [Applause] [Music] M we got we got we got we got we got got got every day s and his friends watch looters running across the streets with whatever they can [Applause] move jump

Haiti has been in the grips of a renewed crisis ever since heavily-armed gangs formed an alliance this February and forced Ariel Henry to step down as prime minister. Haiti has long been plagued by gang violence, with armed groups fostered in the shadows by power-hungry political and economic elites. But now more than 80 percent of Haiti’s capital is controlled by the alliance of armed groups, and they’re vowing they won’t lay down their arms unless they get a seat at the negotiating table. Left battling the gangs is Haiti’s under-resourced police, which is less well-armed than the gangs and often accused itself of rampant corruption. FRANCE 24’s Catherine Norris Trent and Roméo Langlois went on patrol with UTAG, a specially formed anti-gang unit of Haiti’s police. They bring us this exclusive report from Port-au-Prince.

Read more about this story in our article: https://f24.my/AMJa.y

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25 comments

  8. I've always had crazy respect for those trying to bring order in 3rd world countries. I know special forces like the SAS get a lot of respect but they also usually have the best kit, the best support and the best intelligence. Those fighting the gangs in South America or here or warlords in Africa I've always respected because it's got to be such a tough fight and the amount of corruption you'd have no idea if a colleague might just shoot you…

  12. the question other countries ask Haiti before they agree to send aid:

    “is there oil in your country?”

    no? 🤷🏻‍♂️

  18. I heard that Brazil did quite a good job on Haiti and when UN ordered them to leave all the problems came back…isn't a good idea call them back, i mean i have a friend that lives in Brazil and he says that militaries and polices have a very tought way to handle these kind of stuff

  19. It would take 40,000 troops with urban fighting experience to clean up the capitol area. Add to that the effective vetting of individuals who will flee the city upon the arrival of the troops and secure logistics and a secure base of operations, the airport, and it's obvious that the UN is hopelessly outmatched even with help. Because of what it will take to stop the gangs this situation is going to continue for some time.

  20. At some point you have to ask yourself how we got here. How did the most intelligent beings on planet earth manage to allow things to become this bad…

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