CNN reporter witnesses Haitian gang violence 5:43
(CNN) --
More than 50 people have been killed and dozens more are missing in clashes between armed gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, between February 27 and March 5, according to Pierre Esperance, executive director of the National Network of Defense of Human Rights, in a statement to CNN this Sunday.
The armed clashes are taking place specifically in the popular neighborhoods of Bel-air and Bas Delmas in Port-au-Prince, Pierre told CNN.
Large areas of Port-au-Prince are run by organized criminal groups, and Haiti has faced widespread gang violence, insecurity and kidnappings in recent months.
Anti-government protests have also continued in the Caribbean country since August 2022 when Haitians protested against gang violence, poverty and inflation.
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“This new wave of violence is between the G9 gang and a different gang in Bel Air for control of the territory.
The main victims in all these conflicts are the civilian population.
They burned dozens of houses and the end is not in sight.
Until now, the police have not yet said a word nor the government," Pierre told CNN.
G9 is a group of more than a dozen Haitian gangs based in Port-au-Prince.
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Last October, the Government of Haiti and the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, urged the international community to consider the deployment of forces in Haiti to address the growing humanitarian and security crises in that nation.
CNN has reached out to the Haitian National Police and the government for comment.
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