Haitian Forces Reportedly Killing Hundreds Of Gang Members With Drones

Forces fighting on behalf of the Haitian government have reportedly killed hundreds of gang members with drones, inflicting tangible damage to criminal organizations that have managed to control most of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

According to a report by the National Human Rights Defense Network and picked up by InSight Crime, drone operations have killed at least 300 gang members and wounded 400 more.

The effort by the cornered government began months ago with the hiring of U.S. military contractor Erik Prince to help its forces. The Washington Post reported in April about the effort to deploy weaponized drones, detailing that they are commercial models modified with improvised explosives.

InSight Crime added that the attacks began as gangs were seeking to advance towards the offices of the Prime Minister and the Transitional Presidential Council. Other neighborhoods under their control have then come under fire as well.

The outlet noted that there is not much information about who oversees the mission, likely given there is no clear legal basis for the use of drones. Experts have said the attacks violate Haitian and international law because the country has not formally declared an armed conflict, meaning that the use of force should legally be restricted to imminent threats to life.

The head of Haiti's transitional council, Fritz Alphonse Jean, also admitted that authorities have hired mercenaries to help them fight against armed gangs.

Jean said "when there is a weakness, we look for other people to support the national police." He declined to say how much those hired are being paid but detailed that "the resources that are being poured in are that of the population," according to the Miami Herald. He did not confirm nor deny that the amount was $44 million.

Erik Prince had been scouting Haitian American military veterans to hire and send to Port-au-Prince to aid forces there, with previous reports noting that he expected to send to send up to 150 mercenaries to the country over the summer and had already shipped a large amount of weapons.

"What I can assure everyone is with this level of violence compounded by what they call transnational criminality .... it is simply not true that our security forces can confront these challenges alone," Jean added in another passage of the conversation.