Haitian National Police spokesman Lionel Lazarre told AFP that police officers stopped a truck carrying gang members in the wealthy Petion-Ville suburb around 2 a.m., while a bus carrying gang members was stopped in the city center.

Police opened fire in both encounters, killing 10 people, and then chased those fleeing with the help of self-defense groups formed by residents opposed to gangs and violent rule in many parts of the country.

Last year, in a horrific episode of vigilante reprisals, a dozen alleged gang members were stoned and burned alive by Port-au-Prince residents.

Well-armed gangs control about 80 percent of the city and routinely target civilians despite the deployment of a Kenyan-led international force to assist unarmed police.

Renewed violence

Last week saw renewed fighting in the Haitian capital by Viv Ansanm, an alliance of gangs that helped overthrow the former prime minister in February Ariel Henry.

The streets were nearly empty on Tuesday after police and residents set up barricades in many neighborhoods.

Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherisier, spokesman for Viv Ansanm, a notorious gang leader, called for the resignation of the transitional government currently ruling the country.

“The Viv Ansanm coalition will use all means to ensure the separation of the CPT,” Cherisier said on Monday, using the acronym for the Transitional Presidential Council.

The council, made up of unelected officials tasked with the difficult task of leading the country to its first elections since 2016, is facing internal turmoil of its own.

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimewas was sworn in last week, replacing outgoing premier Garry Conille, who was appointed in May but was caught up in a power struggle with the council.

Meanwhile, violence continues to shake the capital.

More than 20,000 people were displaced in Port-au-Prince in just four days last week. UNThe International Organization for Migration issued a warning over the weekend.

The country lost important ties with the rest of the world after the United States last week banned all civilian flights to the country for a month after three jets approaching or taking off from Port-au-Prince were shot down in an armed attack.

(AFP)