Fourteen dead bodies were found yesterday Monday in an affluent suburb of Port-au-Prince where gang members attacked at dawn, while Haitians are still waiting for the creation of a transitional council, the finalization of which is expected immediately, according to the US.

An AFP photojournalist counted 14 bodies in Petion-Ville, a suburb of the capital. Two residents said at least ten people were killed, not knowing the circumstances of their deaths.

They stressed, however, that “armed thugs” had been spreading terror since dawn in Laboul and Thomasin, two areas of the district. They attacked a bank branch, petrol station and houses, they explained.

“They all came wearing hoods, with cars, motorbikes, their own ambulance, then massacred the population of Petion-Ville,” resident Vincent Jean Robert said.

Among the vandalized houses was that of a judge of the Haitian State Council, who was able to leave in time thanks to the intervention of the police, said a person close to him.

About 80% of Haiti’s capital is controlled by gangs, accused of a host of atrocities — murder, rape, looting, kidnapping for ransom…

Delay

Haiti, which is experiencing a deep security and political crisis, has been facing a rapid escalation of violence since the beginning of the month, when gangs joined forces and began attacking strategic locations in the capital to oust de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henri. .

The embattled prime minister was unable to return to his country after a trip to Kenya. He announced his resignation last Monday, assuring that his government will continue to handle day-to-day affairs until a presidential transition council is formed.

During an extraordinary international session in Jamaica, with the participation of member countries of the Caribbean community (CARICOM) and present representatives of the UN and other states, including France and the US, Haitian organizations and political factions were tasked with forming transitional authorities.

But negotiations to create a seven-member “presidential transition council” are dragging on as they stumble over infighting.

After stormy talks, members of the 21 December collective, the faction of resigned Prime Minister Henri, have finally agreed to name former senator Louis Gérald Gilles as their representative in the council, an AFP source involved in the proceedings said.

The talks between the Haitian parties are “progressing well” although there are “challenges” which were probably “expected”, as there was no need in the past “to choose a single representative”, Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith told reporters after briefed the UN Security Council on developments in Haiti in a closed-door meeting.

The State Department, for its part, assured that the parties involved in Haiti are “very close to finalizing the composition” of the council and that it “expects updates” on this very soon.

“It’s not impossible,” assured Mrs. Johnson Smith, but “I wouldn’t put the plow before the ox.”

“Mad Max”

Kenya, which is expected to send about 1,000 police officers as part of an international security restoration mission it has offered to lead, has announced it is suspending their deployment but has assured it will move forward once a presidential transition council is formed and takes power. .

The day before Sunday, the night traffic ban was extended until tomorrow Wednesday in the prefecture where the capital is administratively located.

Haitian police on Friday night carried out an operation on a stronghold of the head of a gang alliance known by the nickname “Barbecue” near the capital Port-au-Prince, in which several thugs were killed, a spokesman for the French police union said on Saturday. Agency, without giving a more specific account.

Yesterday the executive director of UNICEF described the situation in Haiti as “horrific”, “taken from a scene of ‘Max Max'”, a film that unfolds in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future.

The current situation “is the worst we’ve seen in decades,” Kathryn Russell told US broadcaster CBS.