A US couple were among three missionaries shot and killed by gang members after they were attacked leaving a church in the Haitian capital, which has endured months of extreme violence with deadly assaults on hospitals, prisons and government buildings.
Missions in Haiti, an Oklahoma-based nonprofit founded in 2000, said that Davy and Natalie Lloyd and a third person were killed in Port-au-Prince by armed men on Thursday evening.
The third victim was identified by US media outlets as Jude Montis, the Haitian director of Missions in Haiti.
Photo: AFP / Missions in Haiti
“Davy and Natalie and Jude were shot and killed by the gang about 9 o’clock this evening,” Missions in Haiti wrote on Facebook on Friday. “We all are devastated.”
“The bandits entered the house and looted it before murdering the missionaries,” a police spokesperson said, adding that an investigation is under way.
Earlier, Missions in Haiti said on Facebook that the missionaries were ambushed by a gang traveling in three vehicles.
Photo: Reuters
“Davy was taken to the house tied up and beat,” it said. “The gang then took our trucks and loaded everything up they wanted and left.”
Members of another gang then arrived and “went into full attack mode,” the post said.
Hannah Cornett, Davy Lloyd’s sister, said that her brother was 23 years old and Natalie Lloyd was 21. They were going to celebrate their two-year anniversary next month.
Cornett said her parents are full-time missionaries in Haiti, and that she and her two brothers grew up there.
“Davy spoke Creole before he spoke English. It was home,” she said in a phone interview. “Haiti was all we knew.”
Responding to the deaths, the White House called for the swift deployment of a Kenyan-led multinational force in Haiti to tackle rampant gang violence.
“The security situation in Haiti cannot wait,” a US National Security Council spokesperson said, adding that US President Joe Biden had pledged to support the “expedited deployment” of the force in talks with Kenya’s president on Thursday.
“Our hearts go out to the families of those killed as they experience unimaginable grief,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also expressed condolences, calling it “just another example of the violence that spares no one in Haiti.”
The main airport partly reopened this week after being closed since early March, when the powerful and well-armed gangs that control much of the country went on a coordinated rampage they said was aimed at toppling then-Haitian prime minister Ariel Henry.
Lamarre Lamy, a pastor with International Missions Outreach, was shaken by the missionaries’ deaths, saying the work of such humanitarians is crucial for young Haitians amid the violence and chaos.
“Many young people are at university thanks to their support,” Lamy said.
“We shouldn’t be dying like this, you cannot spend a day without hearing about murder,” Lamy said.
Kenyan President William Ruto vowed during his visit to Washington that his country’s security deployment to Haiti would seek to crush the gangs.
The Biden administration had searched extensively for a country to take the lead on the mission to Haiti after it ruled out sending US forces, which have a long history of intervention in the country.
Additional reporting by AP
SURVEYED CONCERN: A poll showed 74 percent of respondents believe Australia is too economically reliant on China and 71 percent say Beijing is a security threat Regional security concerns are expected to overshadow lucrative trade ties when Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) visits New Zealand and Australia this week, with the mood markedly different from the Chinese premier’s visit seven years ago. Li is to arrive in New Zealand today, before traveling to Australia at the weekend, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Australia is the top supplier of iron ore to China, its largest trading partner, but there is competition for Australia’s rare earths needed for electric vehicles and defense from Western security allies. New Zealand was the first Western nation to strike a free-trade agreement with
Down a Tokyo street lined with bright signs, up narrow stairs and behind a windowless door is a “snack bar” long cherished by regulars but hidden from tourists — until now. Snack bars are cozy, retro establishments found across Japan, often crammed into small buildings and equipped with karaoke systems that echo late into the night. They are typically run by a woman nicknamed “mama” who chats to customers while serving drinks with nibbles such as nuts, dried squid or simple cooked dishes. Despite being a fixture of Japanese nightlife since the post-war era, the tucked-away bars’ tight space can be intimidating, especially
‘FRESH INFILTRATION’: A man was killed in a gun battle with security forces and later suspected rebels lobbed grenades and fired at a checkpoint in the Doda area A suspected militant was killed and seven members of security forces were wounded in clashes in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said yesterday. The first incident occurred late on Tuesday night in Hiranagar, a village near the frontier with Pakistan, which, like India, claims the Himalayan region in full. Security forces rushed to the border village, with a man killed in the resulting gunfight who police believed had crossed over from the Pakistan side. “This appears to be a fresh infiltration in which one terrorist was killed and the search for one more is ongoing,” Anand Jain, a top police officer, told reporters. Hours later, suspected
A brief boat ride from the thrumming nightclubs of Mykonos lies the UNESCO heritage site of Delos, one of the most important sanctuaries of the ancient Greek and Roman world. Surrounded by piercing azure waters, Delos’ 2,000-year-old buildings offer a microcosm of information on daily life during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. However, the site known for its temples guarded by stone lions could be gone forever in half a century, scientists warn. “Delos is condemned to disappear in around 50 years,” said Veronique Chankowski, head of the French archeological school of Athens, which has been excavating the site for the past 150