Residents of Haiti's Cite Soleil demand protection after gang violence displaces hundreds

Описание: (12 May 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES OF DEAD ANIMALS++

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Port-au-Prince, Haiti - 12 May 2026
1. Various of people standing on top of armored police vehicle, followed by others on motorbikes, during protest urging police presence in area affected by gang violence
2. Protesters chanting and waving tree branches
3. SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Lorgue Dorsaint, farmer:
"Since the day before yesterday, I've only had the clothes on my back. I’ve walked the streets without knowing where I'm going. I don’t know where my children are. I hear they were killed. I’m holding my heart. I don’t know anything."
4. Burnt structure and vehicle UPSOUND gunshots
5. Burnt cow and vehicle ++GRAPHIC++
6. Burnt cow next to burnt roofing sheets ++GRAPHIC++
7. SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Michel-Ange Toussaint, returning home after fleeing gang violence:
"On Saturday, they killed three people in front of us. We resisted and stayed around. On Sunday, around 6 p.m., they attacked the area and started to burn houses down, kill animals, and cut people’s heads off. It is our good feet that saved us. I know of seven people who have been killed and others who have been shot. Now, I’m back at the house looking for what’s left of our clothes. I fled only with the clothes I was wearing. We are sleeping in the open sky, in the streets, sitting in the hot sun. We also don’t have food or money."
8. Toussaint collecting clothes from line outside her house
9. Toussaint walking away
10. Various of people displaced by gang violence
11. Close of elderly woman
12. Various of people gathered on roadside, taking shade from the sun
STORYLINE:
Residents of the Cite Soleil neighborhood in Haiti's capital protested Tuesday, demanding government protection after clashes forced hundreds of people to flee their homes over the weekend.

In the desperation to escape the attack, some families have been separated. Lorgue Dorsaint has been on the streets since Sunday, trying to find information about his family.

"I don’t know where my children are. I hear they were killed. I’m holding my heart. I don’t know anything," said Dorsaint.

Some of the protesters said they saw people getting killed over the weekend in Cite Soleil, where burned cars and dead cows could also be observed.

Haitian authorities have not informed on casualties.

"I know of 7 people who have been killed and also people who have been shot," said Michel-Ange Toussaint, who had returned briefly to her home in Cite Soleil to gather some clothes.

She said the attacks on civilians began Sunday around 6 p.m., prompting many people to flee the area in search of safety.

"It is our good feet that saved us," Toussaint said.

Gangs have overtaken more than 90% of Port-au-Prince since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 at his home.

Police say they have expanded their activities — including looting, kidnapping, sexual assaults and rape — into the countryside. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.

In a statement released Monday, the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders announced the evacuation of its hospital in Cite Soleil following the intense clashes Sunday.

In April, the first foreign troops linked to a U.N. force arrived in Haiti to help quell ongoing violence.

The U.N. Security Council in late September approved a plan to authorize a 5,550-member force, which has not fully arrived in the island nation. An unknown number of troops from Chad have so far been deployed.


AP Video by Pierre Luxama



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