PORT-AU-PRINCE, March  18, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Fourteen bodies were found
Monday in a suburb of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, after an attack by gang
members who have ravaged the country for weeks, an AFP correspondent reported.

Local residents told AFP they did not know the circumstances of the deaths
but said that the affluent suburb of Petion-Ville had been under attack by what
they said were armed criminals since early Monday.

Witnesses said gang members attacked a bank, a gas station and homes in the
area.

Haiti has been engulfed for two weeks in a gang uprising by well-armed
groups saying they want to topple Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Last week Henry agreed to step aside to allow formation of an interim
government, following pressure from neighboring Caribbean countries and the
United States.

UNICEF, the United Nations' children's agency, offered a dire assessment of
the situation in Haiti, saying Sunday it was "almost like a scene out of 'Mad
Max,'" and warning people were suffering "famine and malnutrition" with aid
groups unable to gain access.

On Sunday, a curfew was extended until Wednesday in the Ouest department,
which includes Port-au-Prince. A state of emergency is set to end April 3.

Several countries including the US and European Union member states have
evacuated diplomatic personnel from Haiti due to the crisis.

Meanwhile, efforts are continuing to organize a Kenyan-led security mission
to back up the Caribbean island nation's overwhelmed police force.