Haitian "self-defense brigades," which claim to protect communities from ever-escalating gang violence in the Caribbean country, are also being accused of engaging in unrelated acts of violence.
A new report by the Miami Herald describes an incident in the Artibonite region, where a self-described brigade stormed a church in a rice-growing community and killed 15 people inside.
A witness of the episode told the outlet that members of the gangs "broke the locks, ransacked the church and pulled out machetes." Then they "started hacking people," including beheadings.
Another case involves a group storming a customs office on the border the country shares with the Dominican Republic. There, members of the brigade assaulted agents and looted the office before seizing vehicles. They have also set a checkpoint to collect fees from truckers transporting cargo into the country, a move agents likened to those of gangs.
The scenes further illustrate Haiti's chaotic state as the transitional government struggles to hold on to territory and international help does not appear on the horizon. Gangs are increasingly closing in on the last neighborhood they don't control in the capital, Port-au-Prince, with only a band of self-defense groups led by a police officer standing between them and the transitional government.
The Financial Times reported this week that remaining fighters are engaging gang members in the street. However, as police and private contractors have begun using drones with explosives, gangs are now blasting through houses' walls to move around the neighborhoods.
Finance Minister Alfred Métellus told the outlet that drones could help efforts to fight gangs but only if thousands of additional security personnel are deployed on the ground. FT reporter Joe Daniels, who spent four days in the country, said he didn't see a single patrol of the Kenya-led multinational mission that has sent some 1,000 officers to support local police and troops.
The journalist also quoted Diego Da Rin, an analyst at International Crisis Group, who said gangs now appear to not want to just overthrow the government. Top gang leader Jimmy "barbecue" Cherizier said the government must work with them. "We demand to be at the negotiating table," he said months ago, warning they would continue with their actions otherwise.
The transitional government has hired U.S. military contractor Erik Prince to help its forces, largely to deploy drones aimed at killing gang members. The Washington Post reported in April about the effort to deploy weaponized drones, detailing that they are commercial models modified with improvised explosives. Authorities have yet to report a high-profile killing as a result from the strategy.
Prince has also been scouting Haitian American military veterans to hire and send to Port-au-Prince to aid forces there. He expects to send up to 150 mercenaries to the country over the summer and has already shipped a large amount of weapons there.
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