Enlarge image
Police officers in Haiti (symbolic image)
Photo: Dieu Nalio Chery / AP
In Haiti, five Catholic priests and two nuns have apparently been kidnapped by a gang.
The clergy were kidnapped in the Croix-des-Bouquets parish, said a spokesman for the Haiti Bishops' Conference.
They actually wanted to take part in the appointment of a new pastor.
A priest and a nun are French.
According to media reports, the kidnappers are demanding a ransom of one million dollars, the equivalent of around 840,000 euros.
The AFP news agency reports that the police suspect an armed gang named "400 Mawozo" was behind the kidnapping.
The newspaper Le Nouvelliste also wrote that members of this gang were responsible for the crime.
In recent months, kidnappings and ransom demands have increased in Haiti.
In March the government declared a state of emergency in certain areas of the capital and in one region in order to restore "authority of the state" in gang-controlled areas.
Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world, is currently in a serious political crisis.
Most recently there have been violent protests against President Jovenel Moïse, who are accused of corruption and links to violent gangs.
ptz / Reuters / AFP / dpa
