PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) 鈥 A leader of one of Haiti鈥檚 most powerful gangs was injured in a shootout with Haitian and Kenyan police in their first major incursion into gang-controlled territory since a U.N.-backed mission began earlier this year, police said Tuesday.
The second-in-command of the Kraze Bary猫 gang, known simply as 鈥淒eshommes,鈥 was shot in Torcelle, a community the gang controls in the southeast region of the capital Port-au-Prince, Haiti 春色直播 Police said in a statement Tuesday.
Some 20 other gang members were killed during the police operations, which occurred on Saturday and Monday, officials said, adding that they confiscated firearms, munitions, phones and 鈥渟ensitive materials and equipment.鈥 Nobody was detained in the operations, and police didn't say how they know that Deshommes was injured.
Police said the incursions would continue until the gang and its top leader, Vitel鈥橦omme Innocent, could be neutralized.
In a statement, the Kenyans who are leading the mission called on Innocent to 鈥渟top committing atrocities against innocent Haitians.鈥
鈥(The mission) is sending a strong warning to key gang leaders to stop the barbarous acts of rapes, extortion, kidnapping, blackmail and killings,鈥 they said.
Innocent has been sanctioned by the U.S., the European Union and the U.N. Security Council, with the U.S. offering a $2 million reward for information leading to his capture. He has in the U.S. for the of 16 Christian missionaries in 2021 and the slaying of missionary Marie Franklin and kidnapping of her husband in 2022.
In a recent video, Innocent stands near an armored vehicle set on fire that police said they were forced to abandon due to engine failure during one of their operations.
Innocent claimed the gang was not giving police any problems and accused them of 鈥渉urting too many innocent people.鈥 He also said the gang has the power to decide who enters and leaves the community it controls.
Kraze Bary猫 is an ally of the G-P猫p gang federation, an enemy of G9 Family and Allies, another federation led by former elite police officer Jimmy Ch茅rizier, best known as Barbecue.
Kraze Bary猫 has about 600 members and controls the community of Tabarre as well as parts of P茅tionville and Croix-des-Bouquets. The gang is accused of killings, drug and weapon trafficking, rapes, robberies and other crimes, according to the U.N., which called it 鈥渙ne of the most powerful gangs鈥 in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.
Kenyan officials pledged that 鈥渢he pressure will be sustained on the gangs until or unless they surrender to the authorities.鈥
They also noted that operations are still ongoing in the central town of Pont-Sond茅, where at least 115 people were killed by another gang earlier this month.
Prime Minister Garry Conille, who arrived Tuesday from a trip to Kenya and the United Arab Emirates to secure more resources for the police mission, told reporters that the police and army are better equipped now than earlier this year, when gangs launched coordinated attacks .
鈥淧retty soon we will see more action,鈥 Conille said, promising that special forces would free more roads and communities from the gangs鈥 stranglehold.
