Drones kill more than one hundred alleged members of armed gangs in Haiti in 48 hours

Port-au-Prince. – More than a hundred alleged members of Haitian criminal gangs from Gran Ravine and Village de Dieu were shot down by drones in the last 48 hours, the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) affirmed this Wednesday. These drones were launched by the task force created by the Haitian Prime Minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aime, last March in order to combat the increase in insecurity in a capital controlled by at least 85% by armed terrorists.

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The director general of RNDDH, Pierre Esperance, said in a statement that one of the reasons why these drones have caused so many victims is because they were launched over an abandoned school called Maranatha, where armed groups that terrorize the population of the south of the capital have been based for several months. Explosive drones are the new techniques used by Haitian authorities to reach armed gangs in their stronghold, which are usually found in hard-to-reach spaces that members of the National Police cannot access. However, these suicide drones have not yet managed to kill any gang leaders, although they have lost many of their subordinates. These drones sow fear among the gangs, as demonstrated in their interventions on social media, where they frequently complain. Almost all the big gang leaders have lost their lieutenants, starting with Jimmy Cherisier, alias Barbecue, the head of the powerful armed coalition Vivre Ensemble. For several weeks, the Haitian National Police has multiplied its operations in different areas of the metropolitan region of Port-au-Prince, including Kenscoff, in the heights of Port-au-Prince, where they are repelling armed gangs. Thanks to these police operations, many areas of the capital are experiencing a truce. This is noticeable in the resumption of commercial and school activities in some areas that were in the hands of the gangs. The leader of the Tabarre gangs, not far from the US embassy in Haiti, Vithelhomme Innocent, was almost caught by the Police on several occasions in recent days. All specialized Police units are conducting ongoing operations in the Vithelhomme stronghold. In the first three months of this year alone, 1,617 people died and another 580 were injured due to violence involving armed gangs, self-defense groups, unorganized members of the population, and security forces, according to data from the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (Binuh). In 2024, violence in Haiti caused at least 5,626 deaths (a thousand more than the previous year), 2,213 injuries, and 1,494 kidnappings, according to figures verified by the UN.