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UN peacekeepers raid violent Haitian slum

Soldiers of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti patrol the streets of Cite Soleil, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Friday. A force of 700 UN peacekeepers mounted a dawn raid on the troubled slum and arrested gang members accused of kidnappings and murders on Friday, the UN said. PHOTO: EPA

Hundreds of UN peacekeepers raided Haiti's largest and most violent slum, seizing a portion of it in a six-hour gun battle that wounded two soldiers and killed a suspected gang member, officials said.

More than 700 heavily armed blue-helmeted troops from seven countries participated in the pre-dawn raid on Port-au-Prince's sprawling Cite Soleil slum, entering the shantytown in armored vehicles and on foot as UN helicopters circled above.

The peacekeepers seized several abandoned buildings in the Boston section that had been used by gangs to stage attacks. The raid sparked an intense firefight within the densely populated slum of 300,000 people.

Two UN soldiers -- from Brazil and Bolivia -- were slightly wounded, one by gunfire and the other in an unspecified incident unrelated to the fighting, UN spokesman Jean-Jacques Simon said.

The spokesman said UN troops killed one suspected gang member and wounded four others.

"There will be no tolerance for the kidnappings, harassment and terror carried out by criminal gangs," said Major General Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz, the Brazilian commander of the 9,000-strong international force.

"I will continue to cleanse these areas of the gangs who are robbing the people of their security," he said.

Friday's raid was one of the biggest in months by peacekeepers, who were sent to the troubled Caribbean country more than two years ago to quell violence in the chaos after the 2004 revolt that toppled former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Dos Santos, speaking earlier from Cite Soleil as gunfire still echoed through the streets, said gang members fired thousands of rounds at peacekeepers. Peacekeepers returned fire -- and at one point could be seen using a sniper to fire into the slum from a water tower.

Journalists saw the blood-spattered body of a young man in a street. Witnesses said he was walking through the area when he was hit by gunfire, but it was not clear who shot him and his identity was unknown. Residents moved the body inside a building.

Journalists later saw slum residents use a wheelbarrow to carry out a motionless woman bleeding from her chest. The residents said she was struck by a stray bullet at her home. Her condition was not immediately known.

Afterward, about 100 Cite Soleil residents staged an impromptu protest outside the UN military base in the slum, waving a white sheet and chanting "We want peace!"

"We want this fighting to stop so innocent people of Cite Soleil can stop being victims and live as human beings," protester Damas Augustin said as peacekeepers put up barriers to keep demonstrators at bay.

On Dec. 22, UN troops raided another part of Cite Soleil to break up a kidnapping gang.

The UN said six suspected gang members were killed, although slum dwellers said 10 people died and that all were civilians.

Friday's raid targeted a section of the slum that is controlled by a notorious street gang led by a shadowy figure known only as "Evens."

"We are now in control of the area known as Boston," UN spokes-man David Wimhurst said.

He said the gang members apparently fled.
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