184 killed in Haiti, U.N. says, as gang chief allegedly orders bloodbath of aged on voodoo priest’s recommendation

The United Nations human rights chief stated Monday that 184 individuals had been killed over the weekend within the Haitian capital, as Port-au-Prince was rocked by a spike in gang violence that pushed the demise toll from Haiti’s spiraling security crisis to no less than 5,000.

“Just this previous weekend, no less than 184 individuals had been killed in violence orchestrated by the chief of a strong gang within the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, within the Cite Soleil space,” Volker Turk informed reporters in Geneva. “These newest killings carry the demise toll simply this 12 months in Haiti to a staggering 5,000 individuals.”

Volker gave the impression to be referring to a reported bloodbath carried out by a gang chief within the impoverished Cite Soleil neighborhood who focused aged individuals he suspected of sickening his personal little one by witchcraft.

The Reuters information company quoted the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) as saying on Sunday that Monel “Mikano” Felix, chief of the Wharf Jeremie gang, had ordered the murders in Cite Soleil, and that every one the victims of the assault had been over 60 years outdated.

RNDDH stated Felix had sought recommendation from a voodoo priest who informed him aged individuals within the space had harmed his little one, who died on Saturday, resulting in members of his gang killing no less than 100 individuals Friday and Saturday with machetes and knives.

Cite Soleil is a densely populated neighborhood close to the port in Port-au-Prince. It’s among the many most impoverished and violent areas within the small nation.

Haiti has been gripped by political chaos for years, leaving room for heavily-armed prison gangs to grab large swaths of territory in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere. Much of the capital stays lawless regardless of tons of of police from Kenya being despatched in to assist reassert regulation and order.

International airways have largely stopped flying in and out of Haiti amid the chaos and bloodshed, with a number of U.S. carriers halting flights completely after planes had been hit by gunfire in November. American Airlines stated over the weekend that it now not deliberate to renew flights from February as beforehand acknowledged, becoming a member of Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways in postponing all Haiti routes indefinitely.