At least 17 Christian missionaries from the United States and their families, including children, have been kidnapped by a gang in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, the newspaper reported on Saturday, October 16 The New York Times citing Haitian law enforcement.
The Americans were kidnapped as they left the orphanage. At the time of the abduction, the missionaries were on a bus that was supposed to take them to the airport. The newspaper does not provide any other details.
Haiti has been in a state of political turmoil for many years, and abductions of both the rich and the poor have become commonplace in the country, the newspaper emphasizes. However, the abduction of so many Americans shocked local officials with their insolence.
According to the NYT, there is currently a wave of violence in Port-au-Prince. According to some estimates, criminal gangs control about half of the city. On Monday, October 11, gang members fired at a school bus in the capital, injuring at least five people, including schoolchildren, and a shuttle bus was also hijacked.
On 7 July, Haitian President Jovenel Moise was fatally wounded in an attack on his residence. Among those detained in connection with the assassination of the president, there are US citizens who said that they had no purpose to kill the president, they only played the role of translators. According to them, a foreigner Mike ordered the assassination of the Haitian leader.
After the death of Jovenel Moise, a political crisis erupted in the country.
On September 15, the former speaker of the Haitian Senate, Joseph Lambert, was unable to take the oath due to a shootout that took place outside the parliament building. The Senate intended to elect Lambert as interim president of the country.
On the same day, the Haitian prosecutor’s office demanded to assign the country’s Prime Minister Ariel Henri the status of a defendant in the case of organizing the assassination of the president.